Girl Scout Thinking Day

Last Saturday was Girl Scout Thinking Day! Check out my little girl scouts. Aren't they just so adorable?

All of our girls were able to make it to Thinking Day (I think our troop had the most attendee's) but only 9 of the 12 girls were around for the group picture.

We did our country on Brazil. They girls each came up with one fact about Brazil for us to post on our board. They found some very interesting facts! We also made some brazilian candy to share with everyone -- Thinking Day is all about the food! Here are the recipies we used: Brigadieros and the Brazilian pumpkin candy. They were very tasty! The Brigadieros tasted like Tootsie Rolls and the Pumpkin-Coconut ones were a favorite!

This is such an awesome event that Girl Scouts puts on. The girls get to learn about other countries and cultures and meet some other girl scouts in our service unit. We always have a good time at this event.

Friday Favorite Five -- 2/27/2009

Happy Almost March! Here's my FFF for the last Friday in February:

1) Birthdays -- It was my birthday this week! Yay! We went to see The Lion King, had a nice dinner in Seattle, got tons of birthday cards, great gifts from special friends, and a nice new purse! Woo hoo! And, I get birthday cake tonight at bunco! :-) I love birthdays!


2) My book holder -- last year my friend, Lichin, gave me this wonderful book holder for my birthday. I have it sitting on my bathroom counter so that I can read while I get ready every day. I LOVE it -- probably the best gift I've ever received! It has changed my life! Well....not really....but it does allow me to read a few pages from my current book every morning while I'm brushing my teeth or blow drying my hair. How awesome is that?

3) My new birthday purse -- isn't she pretty? I've always wanted a Kate Spade. Bob went and picked this out all by himself -- with a little help from the Nordstrom ladies. He is so thoughtful -- how many husbands will pick out a PURSE for their wife? Thank you, honey! I love it!

4) Snail Mail -- This whole week I have been excited to go to the mailbox. Every day there has been an envelope with a handwritten address on the front for me! Yippee!! Nothing makes me smile like getting a letter or card in the mail from family or friends. Email is great.....but snail mail is like opening a present!


5) Amish Friendship Bread -- ok, This Stuff is Good! Thank you to my friend, Jen, who gave me my starter batter last night and some (still warm) friendship bread. I don't have a picture of the bread, because I ate it all! But I have the batter and the instructions on what to do to send it on to 3 of my friends. What a great idea! Thank you Jen!!

Happy Friday! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I love birthdays! Especially when they are mine and I can declare "It's my Birthday Week!"...yes, week! I take full advantage of my birthday and declare it a whole week about me. I'm usually moderately successfull.....at least it gets me more foot rubs from the hubby and less dishes to wash! :-)

For my birthday this year, Bob treated all 5 of us to see Disney's The Lion King on stage. What a wonderful performance! It is simply amazing to see the animals come strolling down the aisle at the beginning of the show. The music was wonderful -- including the new songs that the kids said "that wasn't in the movie!" :-)


After the show we went to a nice seafood restaurant on Lake Union with a veiw of Seattle for my birthday dinner. It was fabulous -- we saw the sunset, spent time together as a family, had a really nice dinner at a really nice restaurant where everyone found something to eat (not once did I hear "What am I going to eat? I don't like this!") -- a great birthday! Thank you family!!!


(Sarah and I at Girl Scout Thinking Day that morning)

(Alex and I waiting to go in)

(Bobby and I taken from Alex's view point)

(Bob and I from Sarah's view point)

Another year older.....sigh.... Next year is the BIG ONE. At least I can still say, for one more year, that I'm "still in my 30's". I asked Bob if he ever thought we'd be almost 40, with 3 kids, living in the Seattle area, with a dog, cat, and a travel trailer? Of course not, but I sure am glad we are!

Sarah is a Super Star!

Sarah did a FANTASTIC job at the talent show tonight! I was so proud of both she and Haley. Even though the microphone wasn't turned on right away, they still did a great job.



Sarah and Haley Singing and after the show.



Flowers for the girls and the K-3 participants.

Here is a link to the youtube video we posted. I can't seem to figure out how to embed the video on the blog so that you can see it from here. Sorry.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M8bIrzRvxA

2/20/2009 -- Friday Favorite Five

Here's my five for this week:

1) Tivo -- I love my Tivo! I never seem to have the time to watch my favorite shows when they come on. So at night, when the kids are in bed, I'm folding laundry....or when it's a Friday afternoon and the kids aren't home yet, and I'm trying to catch up on email and facebook....I can watch my favorite shows and keep caught up on McDreamy and Margene and The Desperate Houswives, etc.

2) Latte's -- My coffee of choice: Grande, Vanilla, 1%, Extra-hot Latte. There are some days when I can't live without it! And I LOVE it when I pull up to my favorite Java Hut and it is ready for me, it is triple stamp day AND I get the trivia question correct. Woot! It's gonna be a good day!

3) Bobby -- My first born. My only child for 8 years. My teenager. My baby boy. He is such a big help to Bob and I. We don't tell him often enough how much we love him and how proud we are of him. Most days we are too focused on his school work, getting his drivers license, his responsibilities.... He is such a big help to our family -- we rely on him to help out with watching his brother and sister. He is also such a joy to us. His love of reading, his kindness, his sense of humor, his "head kisses" at night.... We love him and he is one of my FFF this week.

4) Lean Quisine and other frozen lunch entre's -- I keep them stocked in the freezer, not because I'm dieitng, but because they are so easy to grab and go on the days I have to work. I love the convenience -- and they don't taste too bad either!

5) Our elementary school -- we are fortunate to have an awesome school that is brand new (1 year old) and very close to us (3 min. drive)! I had to be there yesterday from 3:30-5:30pm for talent show rehearsals; back again at 6:00pm for basketball practice; and then back again at 7:00pm for a PTA meeting. Thank Goodness it is so close! The school is wonderful in that it provides a music program which we never had in CA or UT and they and the wonderful PTA put on awesome programs for the kids like the Talent Show tonight (look for Sarah's pics!) and The Reptile Man next week. We have an awesome school and I am fortunate that my kids get to go there!

That's my five! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Our Basketball Star

Alex is playing b-ball this year. He may be small, but he is MIGHTY! Here are some pictures I captured at his last game. I haven't been very good at remembering my camera when I attend his games (what kind of scrapbooker am I?). So this game I was bound and determined to get some shots (no pun intended). However, I was so enthralled with the game, I missed getting one of him making a basket! AND, he got fouled! "And one!" But I did get a shot of his free throw's.

Our last game is this Saturday. I won't be able to make it due to Girl Scout Thinking Day, but I will get to make the end of year party next weekend. I'll try to remember my camera for the party pix! And I'll have pictures of Thinking Day too!

Here's my b-ball star, Alex:

Alex on the moveand seting up the screen.


My baby can get air! Look at him off the floor for that free throw!

Alex brings me a rose just before his Valentine's Day game. The coach had one for each boy to give to his mom. Isn't that just too sweet?

2/13/2009 -- Friday Favorite Five

1) My new bracelet -- I gave one of these to each of my BFF's at the beach last weekend. Deb's says "live"; mine says "Love"; Denise's says "Inspire" and Eve's says "Create". On the inside it says our names and "beach trip 2009". I bought them from a mother/daughter team from this website. I love, love, love my bracelet and wear it every day to remind me of my girlfriends.

("love" on outside of bracelet, our names and "Beach Trip 2009" on inside)

2) A clean house -- I love a clean house! We are a messy family. We try to keep up -- really! But with 3 kids, a dog, a cat, and a crazy family schedule, some things just get forgotten. On Tuesday my house was cleaned top to bottom -- including the tub and shower! The stress just drops from my shoulders when my house is clean! Nothing makes me smile like the smell of a freshly cleaned house.

3) My New Travel Journal -- Look what Eve made me! Isn't she so creative? I'm going to use it for my travel journal. Thank you Eve! I love it!

4) Scrapbooking -- I was able to complete a whole album last weekend! Yay! I love scrapbooking -- especially with friends -- especially at the beach! I am fortunate to have had scrapbooking friends everywhere I've lived. In CA is where we started our scrapbook weekends. In Utah I had a once a month scrapbook night with my girlfriends. Now in WA, I have an awesome Creative Memories consultant, Shelley, who hosts incredible crops about 3-4 times a year and I have a fabulous friend, Krissy, who hosts scrapbooking at her house about 6 times a year. Scrapbooking is such a fantastic hobby for me. I love it! Now if only I could keep my stuff organized.....

(a completed layout, scrapbooking at the beach, and my finished album)

5) My Husband -- he is so awesome to let me go on my yearly scrapbook retreats. He is patient with me when I'm cranky and more patient with our children than I could ever be. He is such a hard worker and provider for my family. He makes me laugh. He loves me unconditionally. He is an awesome cook. He even takes and picks me up from the airport, even though I don't do that for him. I love him with all my heart and am glad it's Valentine's Weekend so that I can show him even more how much I love him.

6) Friday Favorite Five -- I love writing these (even the times I have to really think about my 5; I love reading other people's 5; I love sitting down to reflect on my week to come up with 5 favorites. This has really made me appreciate all the little joys in life. Thank you, Eve, for starting this.

What's your FFF?

Lots of laughs....Little Sleep

I'm tired. It's 11:00 pm on Monday night, and I'm exhausted because I only got about 12 hours of sleep this weekend! But I couldn't go to bed until I posted some pictures and highlights from my fabulous scrapbook trip.

Here are some highlights:

1) Not going to bed before 2:30am each night (two of those nights were at LEAST 4:00am!)

2) Laughing until I cried - multiple times!

3) Getting ribbed about "the stink eye" from last year.

4) Creating 49 scrapbook pages and never once having to put my supplies away!

5) Spending time with my BFF's!

6) Learning new things about these wonderful friends....thanks to the Girls Night Out Table Topics!

7) Listening to great music.

8) Presents!

9) Sharing stories/experiences all over again.

10) Receiving The Traveling Scrapbook.

11) New phrases from this year: "Come Back!" "Google It" "Ask the Deakin"

12) Beautiful/Peaceful Surroundings

I miss you gals already! When's the next trip? Seattle anyone???

Pictures:

Our beautiful view on Saturday morning. So peaceful!

The Gals -- Eve, Raimi, Denise, Debby, Me, and Michelle

Friendship hands and Friendship Bracelets.

My workspace.

I'll post more pictures later. I'm falling asleep typing this! If you've never gone on a girls weekend, I highly recommend it! It's good for the soul!

Friday Favorite Five - 2/6/2009

It's Friday and I'm at the beach! Scrapbooking with my dear friends in California! I hope it's sunny! (I'm cheating and posting my FFF early!)

So, I thought I would post my Favorite Five Scrapbook items, since I'm scrapbooking today!

1) My Creative Memory scrapbook albums -- I learned to scrapbook using Creative Memories products. I love their albums especially! I have scrapbooked 13 albums! Wow! Now if only I were caught up....I still have Bobby's first 8 years to scrapbook, since I didn't get started until he was 8! Oh well...something to do in my spare time.

My bookcase with 12 of the 13 albums I've personally scrapbooked. I think I need a new bookcase!

2) My KP2 Large Scrap bag in Lime Green -- I bought this thinking "like one more bag will keep ME organized?" But I have to tell you -- it is so wonderful having my "necessary" scrapbook items right in this bag for me to use at home or on the go! I love it!

My bag with most of my necessary items -- some of it is already packed.

3) My camera -- Two Christmas' ago, my husband got me a Nikon D40X digital camera. It takes the most awesome pictures! I wish I knew more about how to use it. The pictures of Sarah's dance performance in my last post were taken with it. I love this camera! It has made me a better scrapbooker! I think this year I will need to learn more about the different buttons and how to know when to use my super zoom lense.

4) My paper storage system that Denise gave me last year. I LOVE IT! I can store all my paper in this fabulous tote on wheels. It pops up and I can see each tray with all (or almost all) of my paper! What a wonderful treat to bring home from California last year. Thank you Denise!

This is the picture Eve had on her blog when she was "holding it hostage". You can see there are some page kits (see below for my #5) with it too. Now it's filled to the brim with paper!!

5) Page kits -- I love page kits! They make my scrapbook albums look like I am really creative! (which I'm not!) My BFF's Eve and Denise gave me some a few years ago that I am still using, and I love the ones my scrapbook buddy, Raimi, designs for Green Tangerines.

Kits that are already done (top) and those that I still need to complete. Most of my kits are packed for the trip -- these are just a sampling of what's left.

There are so many more scrapbook items that I love..... I'll probably add to my favorites after this weekend! I usually get a chance to work with a scrapbook tool/item I've never used before. I can't wait to learn a new technique this year!