What a month. It sure has been crazy.
Soon after my last post I went to Burbank and picked up my sister for her yearly summer visit. We decided that she has been visiting me now for 8 years. Cool. It has become kind of a tradition.
As a family we took a drive up to Yosemite. We decided to check out Glacier Point, as we had never been up that way. The farthest we had ever gone that way was to Badger Pass, and that was in the winter, when the roads are covered in snow. We stopped at the turn and discovered that there is a little restroom there. I have pictures of the boys playing on this huge mound of snow while we were waiting for Curt to put on the snow chains. Apparently, they were on top of this little building when it was burried. Funny. The drive was really nice getting there and we were super surprised when we got to Glacier Point. What a view!! I can't believe that we had never explored there before! Normally we just blow through the park on our way to Utah, or we take visitors to the valley, so we had been missing out. At our first stop we saw a squirrel who was very forward. He was able to con the boys out of a few almonds. We think he ate the first 2 then stuffed the rest into his cheeks!

We were there right at the end of the fires, so there was still quite a bit of smoke hanging in the air, but we were still mesmerized by the waterfalls and the eye-level view of Half Dome. We stood there for a few minutes tracing the trail as far as we could follow it up from the valley floor over two waterfalls to the back side of Half Dome. Camille and I and Curt tossed around the idea of hiking it in October when it cools down a little. Hmm...
I had a mini photo shoot at the old rock "house" on the way to the look out. It just looked like such a happy, safe place. From the top we could see the valley far below. I was drawn to the tiny little tubes floating down the river, and wished that we had brought our suits so we could float too. As we were heading to the gift shop I saw a trail marker that looked interesting. Turns out it was a trail that after 4.6 miles straight down would dump you on the valley floor! Well... sounded like fun to me. Curt and Brock opted to drive the truck down to pick us up (good thing too, because I didn't want to walk back up!) and Camille, Tadhg, Caden and I went on our hike. We got a few funny looks from people who were coming in the opposite direction and even had a lady tell us that we should probably turn back at the vista point after she saw our footwear. True... we were completely unprepared for hiking. Camille and I both were wearing flip flops. I was carrying what amounted to a large purse, but we had waters for each of us and some snacks, so... The hike was really not hard. I was surprised to find that at one point the trail had been paved. Every once and a while you would be walking on big patches of asphalt. Tadhg was the official photographer for the hike, and he had us stop a few times so he could take some pictures.

When we we were sure we had passed the half way mark we thought we saw the "teal monster" parked way down below by the road. Curt & Brock had found the end of the trail and decided to start up and meet us. Brock was a little trooper, he probably hiked over a mile! (with no complaints!) I don't know about anyone else, but by the time we got to the bottom my legs were like jello. It was almost 5 miles down! Camille and I took pictures of our feet, which were covered in dirt, as proof of our adventure.
It was really nice to cool off and wash off our feet in the river. Tadhg & Brock took it one step further and got completely wet, which was fun until they had to ride home in wet jeans!


We spent the remainder of Camille's visit hanging at home, playing card games and swimming. I spent way more time than I wanted fighting with my computer, which had lost it's wireless capabilities...somehow? (probably my fault, poking buttons I shouldn't!)I made Camille pose for me so I could do my photography lesson on manual settings.


Friday, the 19, Camille and I headed to Palmdale to visit with Spencer and Tricia and Riley before she went home. We all met up at Auntie P's house and Camille & I stayed there that night. Riley is a cutie and everything that a 1 year old baby should be. I sat there watching him constantly on the go, and poor Tricia chasing after him averting danger left, right and center and realized that I had FORGOTTEN how much work that keeping up with a baby was. I remembered being so tired. I remembered thinking that it was too much work to leave the house, especially to visit someone else who's house was not completely baby proof. I remember always having to be shadowing those boys, lest they get into trouble or break something or hurt themselves. People would ask me how I was so skinny after having my kids and I'd tell them that I had to keep up with my boys. They'd look at me and think I was joking, but after watching Tricia (and doing it myself, 3 times!) I know it's true. Maybe our boys are more active? Who knows, but Tricia... I feel your pain.
I took Camille to the airport again on Saturday and was hoping that this wasn't going to be the last of the "Sisters summer visits". One say she'll have a husband who probably WON'T want to come hang at my house for 10 days. Bummer.
Home again, and I had not realized that the summer was flying by. Monday, the 21st, Caden & Brock went in for their pre-op appointment and Tuesday they both had their tonsils out. I realize that there is never going to be a convenient time for any surgery, but summer seemed good to me. You don't have to go anywhere, could sleep in(Ha!) The boys did great. I was super impressed with their doctor and the surgery center & nurses. It is obvious they have done this many times and know what is going on. They anticipated every question and had some great advice for a happy, speedy recovery. Now... 10 days past surgery, neither boy has felt any pain. At all! I was told a trick, by the nurse, to give a half dose of pain medicine every 2 hours instead of a whole dose every 4. For me, getting up every 2 hours 24/7 for 10 days, that kind of stunk, but for them....no pain. Perfect. They have had 10 days of pampering, popsicles, pudding, ice cream, sleep and video games. Nice. Oh, and their freakishly large tonsils....Gone.




After, eating a popscicle.

So obviously, I don't really think stuff out very well, because I decided to take on several things during this time that probably could have waited, but no....I can't say NO, so...
I helped Chris with a scrapbook for her parent's 60th wedding anniversary. 27 digital scrapbook pages later, she is in Wisconsin and I hope the album is what she wanted. 60 years is quite something, and she does so much for our little family.
I also took on another digi scrap class that started this last Monday. Ugh! I really want to do it. Really. But I'm having a hard time getting motivated (and staying awake!) I still haven't even finished my last digi scrap class and the photography class still has 2 more weeks to go. Good thing I'm not getting graded!

My first Digi-in-Deep lesson assignment.
This new class is really intense, with an in depth assignment every day, so I'm fairly behind and the first week isn't even over yet, but what I have done is really cool. Must be ready for the October class, which I will get to take with my MOM! Yeah!
Back to work... my indoor lighting photography assignment, no flash just using available lighting and adjusting ISO, aperture, and white balancing.

oops! I forgot my monday lesson page.

I scrolled down my blog page and noticed that I was missing something! I forgot to load my Monday lesson page.
Another cruise pic. Grenada was midway through the cruise, and it was the closest to what I thought a Caribbean island was supposed to be like. The first few were okay foliage-wise, but Grenada was LUSH. The tangles of vines and flowers and trees everywhere. A mass of green. Interesting that these islands could be so different. Bonaire was desolate! Hmm.
The lady with the flower headdress was really mad at us.(faded photo in bottom left corner) As our taxi was driving away I saw her up ahead in the road. I handed my camera to Jeff and said, "stick this out the window and get her picture." Surprisingly, it turned out. But she was mad at us. I guess they want to get paid for having their pictures taken and as we were speeding away at the time....Oops. Sorry.

another late night

Here I am and it's 11 at night and I'm still at it. I just finished uploading my assignments for my JS classes.
I finally got some alone time today. I haven't had 5 minutes I could call my own since school got out. I think I was getting a little(well, maybe a bit more) CRANKY! I was able to "wander aimlessly" through Target and a few other stores, without having anyone ask when we were going to be done, or telling me that they had to go to the bathroom or that someone had just poked, teased, looked at(you pick one!)...them:D Now I feel better. Oh, and I had some Harry therapy on the way down and back. (see page below)
Now I am sitting in my office rockin' out while I blog. A much better day.

We went to the fireworks last night at Buchanan High School. We met up with Gramma, Pop-pop, great Gran, Sean and Yasha. The boys took a football to toss while we waited and I was happy to snap semi-candid pics of anyone I could train the lens on.

I tried my hand at photographing fireworks for my class. Not as easy as it looks. But I found out after I got back home and uploaded the pictures that in the dark I had accidentally set my camera to timer, so there was a 6 second delay before the shutter clicked. DUH! Here were the best.




And a picture of the moon at sunset while we were waiting.


Okay, now for the nerdy little secret.... Yup... that was the Saturday 30 minute challenge. To scrap that little addiction that would make me a BIG nerd. Actually I have several, but I'll only divulge one today!:D


I've had a "thing" with Harry for several years. He's always there for me, to keep me company.. while I drive, sew, scrap and to fill my hours as I flip pages or discs. As I was working on this page Tadhg came in and was teasing me about my "nerdy" secret. He read, "I love Harry" and asked, "Do you love him more than dad?" I laughed, "No" Funny Boy! *(but I think we might get along better! Harry never disagrees with me and when I'm done with him I turn him off.)

happy fourth of July!

I jumped out of bed today and put up our flag! Normally I totally forget, but this year I had homework to do.
I started a digital photography class on Monday and I needed to take a picture of what "freedom" means to me. That was tough at first, but then I thought of our Flag. So, I put out the flag and snapped away.

About 60 pictures later, I found one I liked. Can I just say how great it is to have a digital camera, where I CAN take 60 photos to get the ONE I want. Then delete the rest!:D

Spent about 8 hours online yesterday looking for family history stuff. I started to get really frustrated, after looking for HOURS and not finding anything. I finally came across a website for Cleveland County Arkansas that had marriage indexes and obituaries, where I found 3 marriages and 1 Obit. Glad I found something, but...8 hours!!!!

I had a challenge to make a page about "this makes me happy" for my digi-scrap class. I thought about a lot of things that make me happy, like chocolate and fabric, and colors and sleep..books and swimming. I could go on and on, but I decided on my boys. DO they make me happy....yes. Do they also make me crazy? absolutely! Frustrated, yup. But they do make me happy, when they are sweet and loving and cooperative. There are moments.:D

last day in June

Here it is... the last day in June, already!!! I hate it when summer speeds by. We've been keeping busy around here.
The boys have had friends over right, left and center. Somedays I'm up by one (or two) and on others I'm down a boy. For the most part it has been really nice. Every once in a while though I'll notice that there has been too much of a good thing and at least one boy is cranky and over tired. We swim most days, took in the "free" kid movie in Fresno and took a trip to Hobby Town. The boys each picked out a model to build. I got Brock a snap together model, thinking he wouldn't be up for the intricate small pieces and gluing (yeah! I found non-toxic, non smelly model glue!) He surprised me with his ability to follow picture directions. I hardly needed to help at all. The other boys needed a little more help. Directions for building models is seriously lacking... I even had a hard time determining what goes where and when. Oh and that non toxic glue, doesn't work all that great, you spend a LONG time holding the pieces together waiting for it to set up! But I guess that is better than killing brain cells!
I've been trying to keep up on my digital class. I find that some days I just can't be motivated to crank out the pages. I'll get distracted, or frustrated, or just don't have any creative juices flowing. I've put off a couple of assignments for a few days and I guess that is okay.
I finally got a new calling. Yep....it's in cub scouts. I think I had a premonition that it would be. I am just relieved that it is only the den leader call, although what that is exactly I do not know. Just as long as it is me "helping" Allison I think I'll be okay. When the Bishop asked for a sustaining vote this last Sunday he ribbed be about my own half-heartedly raised hand :D
I also got some training for my Family History Consultant calling. I guess that in the last year a newFamily Search went online. I came home and decided to try it out.
Not sure what to think. It's not easy to add in your information and with a not-so-fast computer I spent more than half the time just waiting for a new page to load or update! I also found out that I am apparently not the only one working on my family line, bummer... Ah well.

To the pages....this is what I have done since my last post:
Last Saturday's 30 minute challenge.

I did not like being timed! It stressed me out. I hit the 30 minute mark and my journaling was still not finished, so I restarted the timer and went another 15 minutes. I was having sticky mouse issues and I could not get things to move where I wanted them, then they'd stick and be messed up when I jiggled the mouse to get it to move again! UGH!!! Still wasn't happy with the page. It was "finished"...
technically, but I went back and fiddled with this and moved that and resized another for a bit longer.

Finally a page from our cruise. This was last Mondays lesson. I did the layout just like the lesson called for and HATED it! The paper was red and it clashed horribly. I talked to my mom and she said that it was alright to deviate.. so I did. I like it much better with different paper, colors, and fonts.


We really loved the forts in San Juan. It was incredible to me that they could have built something this complicated and huge and well thought out over 500 years ago. I guess when you think about it there are loads of examples of incredible architecture all over the world that is centuries old, I've just never been able to see them before to truly appreciate it. (but boy would I love to see more!)
You could see where they had made channels along the walls to divert and store fresh rain water, holes to bring in fresh air and as ports to "hear" if enemies were approaching, tracks for the massive cannons to pivot on, walls that were over 30 feet thick. All made of lava rock and then covered in plaster to make it pretty. I was drawn to the turrets. There were several that just hung out there, with slit windows. Amazing.

This was the 6/25 challenge, to use 2 carnival papers, journal strips and one idea from the 100 in 10 list.
I think that Caden took this picture on Mother's day this year. What a sweet boy.

caden is 9!

My babies are growing up :( It doesn't really sink in for me until I look at pictures of them as babies, then see what they are now. The daily change is so gradual...makes me kinda sad that they don't fit on my lap anymore and they won't let me cover them in kisses because they taste so good.
And this little man!!! Less and less of the baby, more of the manly man, leg hair and all!
We had a little family party on his official birthday, he informed me that his birthday was rescheduled/ postponed. Caden is my choco-boy, super chocolate cake which had to have ice cream to tone it down. He's looking forward to his friend party on Saturday. He called and invited everyone,(so grown up) even GIRLS!. He's so good about that, he's not afraid to be friends with the girls. Had to give him man points for that.

My mid week challenge for the Now we're rockin' class was to choose 2 concepts from the first lesson and make a new page. I wanted to try my hand at recoloring again, and chickened out on the suggestion of doing a page about me... so birthday boy got the honor. The page took forever to complete, or so it seemed. Still not comfortable with all the commands and menus and hot keys. But it is enjoyable, so I don't mind putting in the time.

summer

It's finally here! Whoo-hoo! Bring it on. I love it when school is out, sleeping in, swimming every day, long days, hours and hours for projects. This summer should be a good one. I'm taking a new digi class. Started yesterday (Monday). I love getting into the lessons and "growing" my skills.
I finally finished painting my pantry cupboards (thanks dad, couldn't have done it without you!)Just a little touch up and a counter top and we are DONE! (with that project:D)
Brock congraduated (his word) from kindergarten last Wednesday. Funny boy, he was so excited. He was seated in the last row in the middle section and he kept popping up sporadically during the "ceremony" to wave and see if I was taking pictures. He reminded me a few times leading up to the big day that I needed to take A picture of him and then load it up on the computer. I assured him that I would take at least one! He's a big first grader now.

The boys went to cub scout camp today and then again tomorrow. Brock feels all grown up, because he was included this year too. Mr. Tadhg got to go as a counselor. They have all had summer play dates, with lots of friends. Keep them busy and they won't fight.XXX(that's me with my fingers crossed!)
I am fairly unpopular around here now though. After a Wednesday afternoon to Sunday x-box marathon,with subsequent brain rotting, I instituted a 2 hour rule. Each boy is allowed 2 hours x-box/gamecube/computer time each day. I had to amend almost immediately that if there was any arguing with me about that rule that an additional 5 minutes would disappear for each complaint. They have tried to avoid me (and home) since. We'll see if they can get creative with their time.
I had an interesting experience today. I ran a quick errand with a friends daughter(age 15) after I dropped the boys off at day camp. I was talking to the recycle guy (we see each other monthly, and chat, as I recycle) and he asked if Kellie was my daughter. I answered, "Nooo! She's just a girl friend", then the thought hits me.....She could be! Wow, that was weird. Ouch, I'm OLD!!! Then I think of Tadhg starting 7th grade in the fall. Kinda hard to wrap my head around that one too.
Was IM-ing with my mom today as we both worked on our computer related projects. Talking about what was going on in our lives, sharing ideas, funny bits and pictures as needed. I was telling her how I had gotten sucked into a big party for Caden's birthday. (9, oh my!) I told her that he had found an invitation left over from last year, and brought it to me and stated that he wanted invitations just like that this year. I said, "what makes you think you are getting a party?" He looks at me... with his big Gromit eyes, and ...now there's a party. When I mentioned Gromit eyes she brought up the little reach he would do opening and closing his hands when he wanted to be picked up. It always worked. She dug around and found a picture of him doing that reach. Melt my heart! What a sweet baby. Where did he go? those eyes and his little "up" hands.

I got a late start for my first assignment, with painting the cupboards so I sat down today to get busy. I had a really hard time deciding on a picture for the layout. It needed to be horizontal with a part that could be recolored after the rest of the picture was sepia tinted. Everything I came across didn't lend itself to the sepia tinting. Too much going on, not enough contrast, etc. I finally found this photo of the b-day boy from last summers trip to Idaho. It would work. It took the better part of the day, between computer problems, IM-ing and other distractions to get it done. The lesson called for a brush that was no longer available, so I tried a few, but didn't like the results. Mom came to the rescue with a more masculine foliage brush. After a few false starts I found 2 that I liked. After I put them in where I thought they'd fit on the photo I looked at what I'd done. It was interesting that the brush by Caden was young grass and the brush by Dave was an old oak. An analogy perhaps... Whatever it was it, seemed serendipitous.

tug

Your patience has been rewarded. I said I'd maybe post the 3 panel storyboard and
Taa Daaa.... here it is. I started it yesterday, then had to begin again when my computer unexpectedly shut down!?@*, but the second time around went much faster. I put the finishing touches on today and here it is.

Not much new since my last post. No calling yet, but that's cool, a longer break.
One week of school to go! Then I get to sleep in :D

funny

As I was previewing my post I noticed that my background looks almost exactly like my new shelf paper. I'm apparently seeing spots everywhere. The same spots!

life

It's been an interesting week and a half. Let's just say that shortly after I posted last I got sick. Ugh. Never a good thing. I was laid out for 4 days, and over a holiday weekend, too. I guess it was my turn, as the boys had all had the stomach flu over the past 2 weeks. I thought with my super (somewhat OCD) hand washing that I'd be able to bypass this one, but alas....
As movement was out of the question, I spent the 4 days (three days longer than any of them!!!) in bed READING! Of course.
I took the opportunity to read Stephenie Meyer's new book The Host. It was pretty good. Didn't like it as much as I liked the Twilight series, or maybe it was just me being sick?
It rained the whole weekend, which was a bummer. Not because I don't like rain, quite the opposite really. I was bummed that I didn't get to enjoy it. I'd have loved to have sat out in it. As it was I had to be happy with smelling that fresh, wet scent through my window and hear the patter against the roof. I'm hoping that wasn't the last we'll get for the summer (months and months of hot summer!)
By Tuesday I was raring to go. Being cooped up doesn't suit. I got busy with putting down shelf paper in my semi-new cupboards. Took me until this morning to get them all done. 16 cupboards, 43 shelves, didn't realize it was that much.... got some cute blue and brown polka dot contact paper. Now I just need to finish painting them. That is the 95% rule in effect there. Just about everything in this house is 95% done. It's that last danged 5%!(did I mention that I ran out of paper with one shelf left!!! That's 95%!) Ahhh well.
The weather this week has been blissfully cool. I think the warmest it got was about 82, but mostly in the low 70's. Gotta love it, cuz it won't last, but a girl can hope.
I've finally convinced Brock that it's ok to walk home now. It used to be that he'd complain the whole way about how long it took and why couldn't I drive. But just Thursday he told me that it was healthy to walk and it saved gas (yeah, he listens!)
I just about had a coronary when I had to fill up the suburban on Wednesday for $4.06 a gallon! ($4.06 x 42 gallon tank = no college fund for the boys!)Will it never end??

I got released on Sunday from the Stake Primary. That was a pleasant surprise. I really loved the calling the first year, but this year was going to require more public speaking and I don't like that, thus the pleasant, but we weren't in for even 2 years, that was the surprise. Hmm... won't think that one too much. Bishop is giving me a short break, we'll let you know tomorrow if its up yet.

I took about an hour today and did a page for the Sprague Challenge (went back to may week 2) Never done a challenge before and posted it. Was I supposed to incorporate all the colors from the swatch??? Well I didn't, but here it is, and it got me to post again so....

I took this picture on Tadhg's field trip to Hearst Castle. Can I say again how much I love the beach! maybe I'll try the 3 panel storyboard photoshop friday lesson from May 2nd for the seaweed? watch for it!

Whew!

Whew! O.K. apparently I do not blog unless I scrapbook. Good to know. A connection. Life has been hectic since we got back from our vacation. It was great, glad we went... more on that as I get to my pages. Believe me you'll probably hear about it way more than you want to!:D

I finally found an afternoon to document a "Brock" moment. I wish that I did this a little bit more (alright a lot bit more, and not just for Brock, but for all the boys). Sometimes the things that they do or say are just so darn cute or funny...you know!??
So this was one of his latest.


Completely unrelated to my boys, I finally got some "Bek" time. Well, I took it, whether I should have or not. I got a Sony Reader for Mother's Day. (Great present by the way, do they know me or what!!) I was really excited about the $50 credit and then completely stoked when I learned that I could get 100 free (FREE!!!) classics, my favorite. So can you guess what I've been doing....Yup, reading, ALOT! It is officially a sickness, I get into a book and it is very difficult to get me out. I carried that ebook all over. I read while I did my hair, vacuumed the carpet, ate, you get the picture. What was I reading...OHHHhh, yeah.

So I need to back up just a little. I went to Utah for a long weekend to hang with my beautiful, amazing, cool sister, who is no longer a kid, but this incredible career woman (and R.S. Pres! Heehee) I went back for Women's Conference with my mom and my auntie Annie, (career woman had to work :( ) That, by the was was so great, glad I could escape.
As I was perusing Camille's book shelf, looking for new fun stuff to read I saw that she had some of the Twilight books. I'd heard about them from a girl I know (yup Kellie it's you!) and have heard they are good, but I'm not into Sci-Fi and definitely not vampires and werewolves. (Didn't really care about wizards and elves and all that before Harry either, so go figure, maybe I need to expand my horizons, hmmm) Well she, (my cool sis) said they were great as did Katie. Then she said that my mom had borrowed the first, but had yet to read it. So I get home and talk to my mom and she said that she had started Twilight and that it was good, so..... with my $50 I bought the series for my reader. Unfortunately, I had sick kids for a few days and I still needed to finish Mansfield Park, which I'd been reading off and on for a few weeks. Friday I started reading ....I could not put it down!!! I got sucked in so deep. What an amazing author. I can literally feel these character's emotions. I finished the first book on Saturday waited a few hours ( I was feeling guilty...) to start the second. I stayed up real late and read, then woke up and read some more. Had more sick kids, felt guilty again, but had to start book three on Monday. Finished them all on Tuesday. Now I'm anxiously waiting for book 4. Good Grief. Like I need another obsession. Ahh well. Love it though.
Found the web site today and OH goodie.... there's a movie. Whoo-hoo!! And a chapter for a book on Edward. Devoured it. Yup, good. Will be waiting for that one too. Is it crazy to be in love with a fictional vampire? (me and every other 14 year old girl out there!) That was me shaking my head in exasperation.
You know it is really bad when I am willing to stay up late (9 is my normal late!!!) to read, or in this case write, 11:06....insane!

puerto rico

We arrived in Puerto Rico! Yeah! Our flight was long, and we'd been up for almost 40 hours straight, but we got here. We had this massively huge-muscled taxi driver with corn rows take us to our hotel. The drive was interesting.. and Curtis thought driving in L.A. was hairy!
Our hotel is a quaint little boutique place in Condado beach. I guess the area is going through revitalization. You can have a Gucci shop right next to a slummy mini mart, same with the hotels, etc. My first impression was....Scary! But after a local Puerto Rican dinner, sweet plantain stuffed with crab, (yummmmmmm!) we walked a bit and saw that in P.R. everyone is out. Either running, walking or just hanging out.
We felt much better about the area's safety so....
We stoped to look in a few other hotesl and found some cool ones. So far our favorite is La Conch, right across the street. The boys would have been in heaven. Way cool. We also stopped in at the Marriott, which as a hotel was not so cool, but they had all of these middle school kids playing the violin. Wow, were they good. Not only did they play they did dancing etc, while they played. Impressive, most impressive. Their shirts said Allegra string perfomance something... Wonder if they put out a cd?

vacation

finally!

I finally finished this challenge layout. I started it several days ago and just couldn't get it right. I set it aside and came back today and started over. The technique was for fading photos.

adventures with Tadhg

Yesterday, Tadhg and I had an adventure. I was able to go with him and the 6th grade classes on a field trip to Hearst Castle. I opted to drive, as opposed to riding the bus with 90 eleven and twelve year olds. Hmmm... hard choice. Tadhg decided to come with me and it was really nice. We stopped half way and got McDonald's breakfast. We had a nice drive. I got several "I love you"s and at one point he even reached over and patted my shoulder and played with my hair. He hasn't done that since he was a baby! Everything is really green right now and the mountains were spectacular. We say Morro Rock in the distance and the minute we came to the ocean both of us opened the windows as if on cue. Tahdg said, "You know what I love about the beach? The smell. I also like to play in the sand." That's my boy!
The tour of the castle was fun. It was a different tour than I had taken, oh 13 years ago, with Curtis and Gran on a CA visit during college. I took tons of pictures. Now I'll have to devise a page, or two. Tadhg was taking notes on what he saw that he wanted to duplicate at our house. Funny boy. I loved the pools and the grounds. I was surprised that he was so into the tour. He said we needed to come back with the whole family to take the other tours. Cool.
After the tour and the other kids were getting on the bus, Tadhg and I took off across the highway to W. R. Hearst state beach. You can't drive all that way and not play in the sand! The water was so clear and blue, not usual for California coast. It made me really excited for my beach vacation next week. Tadhg found all sorts of rocks on the beach that he said we just like the ones they were trying to sell at the gift shop. "They must come over here and get them, then shine them up." he said. He also found a ginormous piece of seaweed that had washed up. It was comical to watch him trying to drag it. With help he was able to budge it and then decided to set it free and tried to get it back out into the surf. The best part..."I'm really glad you chaparoned." Yeah!

long time been....

It's been a while since I last posted. Been busy with stuff. Little bit of scrapbooking, lots of other.

Finally, after about 3 years, we(Curtis and I) finished putting up the rock on the front of the house. It looks really nice now. One of about a dozen unfinished projects, done!

Cooked dinner last night. Amazing, I know. Found some recipes in BHG that looked good, Chicken thighs with artichokes and asparagus-leek risotto. Let's just say I made a big mess and burned the prosciutto and turned the risotto to mush. Caden informed me that the risotto was horrible and then Brock decided to agree and did the fake gag thing. Nice.

We went to the driving range to golf for family night. I had all of these grand ideas of taking some cool photos. I got down there with my nice camera, ready for business, except...Dun,dun,dun..no CF card. Bummer. No pictures.


Okay, to the scrapbooking...I spent almost all day yesterday on the phone with mom while I was working on this layout. We had fun working "together" 800 miles apart.



Brock was so funny this day. If you can read the journaling it kind of tells the story behind the pictures. I think it is so funny that Brock writes "letters" to tell you how he's feeling. Normally, it is a cute picture of him and me with a heart between us and then both of us circled. But as you can see here, when he is mad at you, you get crossed out! and there is definitely NO heart! Funny boy.

This other layout was my last lesson with Up & Running with Photoshop class. I have really enjoyed the last month of classes and I can't wait to take the next class in June.


I have found that I am seriously lacking in the picture department recently. I have mostly had to scrap from 2006. UGH! I need to get back behind that camera lens. I had to dig way back for this picture of Curt & I. 16 freakin' years! :P
who are those people anyway? I hardly recognize them!

This last layout was our Wednesday challenge, making a comic book-esque photo block. It was one of those pages that you just do. Not really excited about how it turned out, but at a loss on how to make it any better and at the time really couldn't have cared less. Loved the pictures of Brock He was so cute playing with Woody & Buzz. It's neat to see him as into them as Tadhg was. (note his name written on their feet, just like in the movie. He must have dug through the whole toy box and pulled out all the Woodys and Buzzes we owned. Gotta love it.

hiding

Today you will find me hiding out in my office. Our house is temporarily overflowing with 11 year old boys. It all started Wednesday night, when after scouts we had Nic and Nathan here while they were waiting for their parents to get back from mutual. They boys decided to play "hide & scare" (their version of hide & seek) where you turn off all the lights in the house and then try to "get" each other with dart guns. Needless to say, I was hiding out here that night too! Well, they all had sooo much fun that Tadhg concocted the idea of a mass sleep-over as soon as possible. Last night was the History night/wax museum project for all the boys at school and then today is the first day of spring break. So... I gave in.
When I venture out to feed ravenous animals or go potty, I must step over at least 100 darts, several sleeping bags and....is that sand in my rug!? Guess it goes with the flaming hot cheeto crumbs on the sofa. Now I remember why I don't do this very often. At least they keep each other entertained. Did I mention that a houseful of boys smells? Well, it does.
Now let's see if I can find another activity that will keep me sequestered to "my room".

what fun

I learned how to use templates today. Yipee! They are so fast and easy. It was almost a let down, in that it wasn't a challenging challenge, but boy was it fast and easy!

our home

As extra-credit, for a cookie, Jessica asked us to do the exact same page but with different paper and pictures. So......I did. Don't like this second one as much, maybe I'll try another "home" page. But here it is none the less. These were the pics I took earlier this week. Love that plum tree!

almost like Christmas

I pulled out my "big" camera the other day the other day to take some pictures of our home. I rummaged around in my camera bag and came up with a digital photo card, (as the camera was empty) took some pictures and then put it down for a couple of days. Sunday I finally got back to it and decided to download the dozen or so pics I'd taken. But when I stuck the card in the reader I got a nice surprise. About 75 pictures I'd forgotten I'd taken last summer. Some really cute ones too! Yeah for me! Well those sure came in handy for my Monday assignment.

The boys really did have fun up on Grampa Flynn's farm. When I showed the boys the pictures they said they wanted to go back. Gotta love the ATV.
Took St. Patrick's day cookies into class yesterday, felt it was only right, being Irish and all. I also found fun green socks for the boys to wear (wasn't sure we had anything else that was green to wear!), but they all surprised me. They all found a shirt that had a little green on it. I wasn't so lucky, ah well. No corned beef and cabbage here, I made chili. Not very Irish, but everyone ate it so...it works.

saturday night

Here I am and it is Saturday night. Sorry, I'm just sitting here at home, boring... I know. Actually, I have spent the last 2 days trying to organize my digital stuff. I didn't realize I had amassed so much. Thank goodness that 95% of it was FREE! Still *WHEW*. Now I can have some real fun.
No new pages, to busy organizing.
Tried a wheat free recipe today. I have had the "fixins" for about a week now, but couldn't muster the energy to make it. I think secretly I was afraid that after all the work my gluten free biscuits would be disgusting! Well they weren't great, but nothing like the biscuits I'm used to. But they were the first bread that I have had in 2 weeks. Maybe that made them taste better. Who knows. I'm not much for cooking normally, but I think this new way of eating will change that. Have to. Maybe I'll break out and dust off my bread machine. You think it will still work after 12 yrs? Sad.

oops!

You'd think that after staring at his beautiful face all day I wouldn't forget about him, but sure enough. I did. I was so wrapped up in this layout that I forgot to pick him up at scouts. I happen to look at the clock and HOLY COW! it's 4:43. Scout's has been over for half an hour! Good thing he's 1. close 2. at my good friend Allison's house 3. she's understanding! (I might have to think about a 12 step program if I get any more addicted to this!) But the layout is cute, right?? At least he liked it. He also told me that Scout's is way more fun when I forget him!:-)

craziness

The last few days have been crazy busy, there are so many things I want to do and an even greater number of things I NEED to do, I feel like I am running in circles to get even a fraction of them done. I find I am being sucked into this digital scrapping and it is so time consuming. I am staying up way too late and neglecting so many things, but it is a compulsion to do the challenges and watch the classes and finish the pages.
So nearly 5 days later, I am done with my photoshop friday circle page! My super Brock. What a funny boy! He cracks me up with his super powers , which change to meet each situation. You never know when a "power" will kick in and you have to be very observant to know when you may call him Brock and when you MUST call him...Salamander! Tricky. I've tried to get him to use his super powers to get him moving faster in the mornings and he tells me that he's running out, that he only has 3 left and he needs to save them. Oh well, I tried.
I've been trying to get these boys to get ready for school faster, in anticipation of the "Grammie" week. It really is ridiculous that it takes them 45 minutes to get up, dressed and brush their teeth. I've resorted to being mean! I time them and then ..remove..privileges when they don't meet their mark. So far, not working so great, only had one day (out of 5) that they were done early. We'll keep working. I think daylight savings is to blame!!(can I blame it for everything?)
Well, I must sleep or I won't be able to get up!!!

me again

Okay, just a quick funny. I had written then I went back and set up my profile. As I was filling in my "about me" thingy I was typing away and wrote monkier instead of moniker, I guess both would have been right, as I have several monkeys in my home!

in the beginning....

Okay, it may soon be obvious that I have no idea what I am doing here, but I'll figure it out someday. I am starting this blog spot so I can post the digital pages I am learning with Jessica Sprague in her Up & Running with Photoshop class. My experience with blogs are/is minimal (like I said.. OBVIOUSLY!) so any tips or pointers are welcome. Who reads this anyway?

I guess I can use it like a journal, not that I'm very good at that. I think the last time I wrote in one was hmmm....15 years ago before my life became so ...well....not my own. I'd say I have very little time for journal writing, but I guess it's all just a matter of priorities. I think I'd rather sleep, or read or a bunch of other things, but... then I'd have a really boring blog page so maybe this will be the way for me to be better about documenting my life. Didn't someone say that if you didn't write it down then it didn't really happen? Who knows.

My blog life then starts today.

We were very nearly late for church. I did remember to set my clock ahead, but that didn't mean that the other 4 people in my house were ready to get up at what would have been 6 in the morning to get ready. I think the bishop took pity on us and gave us a 10 minute grace period. Believe it or not we even got to sit on the benches and not the folding chairs in the cultural hall (something I detest.) Hmm. guess we weren't the only ones who were late.

Caden my sweetheart demonstrated his skills with the "ladies" today. As I was leaving I stopped to talk to Cheyenne (a little girl who was in Caden's school class last year) and noticed that she was holding a daffodil. When I got to the car someone (doesn't really matter who, not that I would have paid attention anyway) tattled that Caden had given her a flower and told her she was hot. (nice!) Oh and by the way, mom here's a flower for you too, says Caden. He does know how to charm, doesn't he?? He then informed me that my daffodil was better. It had an orange center and not just plain yellow like Cheyenne's. (glad to see he knows who rates higher, at least for now!)

I was able to take another walk around the neighborhood today. The weather has been so perfect. This really is my favorite time of year. Everything is so GREEN! I wish it could be like this all year round. It was so warm ( and has been for the last week or so) that I even had to water my plants (so soon, surely not yet...we need more rain!) Let's see if I can keep them through the summer.

I'll see if I can post my first 2 digital assignments. More later...