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!

My Baby Girl is a Dancer!

Sarah had her dance performances today for the Show-A-Thon. She did such a good job! I am so proud of her. Here are some of my favorite pictures from today. (I couldn't figure out how to post a video. Bummer.)

Super cute pose.

It took a head full of rollers over night to get curls like that! Worth it though.

Isn't she adorable? She was very excited!

My favorite dance move of the day!

Such a cute dance class. They all did a great job!

Sarah and Alex will also be performing in our church's children's musical called "Fairly Odd Pharaoh's" in May. I'll definitely post photos and maybe some video for that one too!

1/30/2009 - Friday Favorite Five

Today I decided to list my Friday Favorite Five books. However, I have MORE THAN Five books that are my favorite. What to do, what to do? So, here is a sampling of all my favorite books. I can't say which one is my all time favorite, or even which are my top 5, but at some point in my adult life, these books have been considered a favorite.

Here we go (in no particular order):

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Other Bolynn Girl by Phillipa Gregory
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer
These is My Words by Nancy Turner
The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik
The Constant Princess by Phillipa Gregory
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon
Where the Heart is by Billie Letts
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevelier
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

So, I can't seem to stop here. There are other books that I have really enjoyed, but have not necessarity been my all time favorites.

Here they are, in no particular order:

Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen
My Sisters Keeper by Jodi Picoult
The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral by Kris Radish
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslun
A Painted House by John Grisham
The Five People you Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Angeles Ashes by Frank McCourt
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

I know there are other books that have been favorites or I've really liked, but can't remember them all. If you know I've left some out, let me know!

If you have a chance, you should join goodreads at www.goodreads.com. It's a great social networking place where you can list all the books you've read and give them reviews and ratings, list the books you are currently reading, and books that you want to read. You get your friends on there too, and then you find other books that you would want to read or you might have forgotten about. It's great!

This is a super long post. I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my favorite books. I'd love to know which books are your favorite!

Happy Reading and Happy Friday!

1/23/09 -- Friday Favorite Five

1) The ecstatic look on my children's faces when I surprise them with bringing home Mcdonald's hot fudge sundaes! I WISH I would've had my camera in my hand when I walked in the door last Friday night. I had met Bob for happy hour and ordered the kids a pizza. On the way home, we stopped by McDonald's and picked up the ice cream as a thank you for letting mommy escape for 2 hours. Even Bobby's face lit up with excitement over ice cream. You'd think they never get it. It's good to be a kid, huh? It's the little things that make us happy.

2) My Zune -- I got it for my b-day last year, and have enjoyed listening to it. Alex got one for Christmas this year, and now I enjoy it even more because he and I have been having a good time sending each other songs. (Is it ok for my 9 year old to like Katie Perry? "She's hot and she's cold...")

3) Anniversaries -- Bob and I are celebrating our 21st anniversary of our first date! Bob took me to a basketball game and pizza --go figure! Perfect for our first date! I've loved this man for 21 years! Amazing!Bob and I at our Senior Prom -- 1988. Weren't we adorable! So in love...Bob's senior picture.My Senior picture.

4) Sunshine -- I miss the sun! We had it for a few days at the beginning of the week, but it's gone. Who knows when it will be back? But when it is here, I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! In this household, I am known as the "Sun Princess". All I can say is that I can't wait for my trip to CA in two weeks so that I can soak up as much sun as I can!

5) My girlfriends -- speaking of beach trip, I can't wait to see them! It's all we can talk about now -- what we're bringing, who's driving, who's picking me up from the airport (Thanks Denise!), if we'll get massages, how much scrapbooking we'll do, etc. My girlfriend's are so awesome! I think this year I won't have to bring hardly anything to the beach except my pictures, pages, and adhesive! Woo hoo! Love you gals!

I have an extra one today:

6) Employment -- I thank God my husband was spared yesterday from the layoffs!

What's your five?