February....already?!

So, here we are. February already. When, exactly did that happen? (Like 2 days ago, Bek.) If this is how fast this year is going to fly by then I am in T R O U B L E!

I didn't post for a few days, feeling horribly inadequate after reading my cousin's absolutely hysterical blog. Then, just when I think I might be able to be marginally clever...the internet goes out.

So, now that I have this wonderful relationship with Lee, our local hillbilly internet provider tech, I am back up and running. I am seriously considering having him over for dinner. *laugh* (well maybe not yet, but....) Goodness knows I've talked to him more in the last few days than my own husband...

How shall I do this? Go back and start from the beginning or go backwards starting now? Decisions...
I'll go back and see how I do from there.

Friday night was church ball. Need I say more? It was, as usual, frustrating and exasperating and really gets your blood pumping. (and that was just for me!)
Since our wards combined we now have more boys than you can shake 3 or 4 sticks at and necessitated another youth team. A & B. Or older and younger. Big and little. The A team is 16+, B team 12 - 15. Tadhg falls under the Team B heading. The B team had 2, back-to-back games on Friday night to get them caught up. Fridays are mountain area ski school, so most of the team had also spent the whole day skiing at Badger. We rushed down as soon as the ski bus showed up and then those boys ran and ran and ran some more. Their coach,(what a slave driver!) Curtis kept telling them to keep their hands up. Our boys were, like a full foot or more shorter than the first team. The second game /team wasn't much better, but the boys really kicked it up and had the game in the bag.....but for the officiating. Let's just say they were robbed in the last 30 seconds of the game and lost. [Long, horrible back story that I will not force you to listen to :)! ]
Meanwhile, I am sitting there on the stage, watching these boys play their hearts out, trying to get a little of the action on video. Brock (you knew he'd factor in here didn't you?) is trying very hard not to die of boredom. He's imagined up several games... all of which require my attention and the, more than occasional, whack on the arm (camera jiggles and jerks) to get me back on track. At one point he was rolling and wiggling across the stage and I thought, "If he did this at home....my floors would be clean." Completely random thought there.
Burgers and fries and Fanta at Rally's did a pretty good job of soothing the disappointment. In 3 years....when they "have grown a foot or two" (sing it!) and have gelled together as a team, they'll dominate. That's what we tell them.

Saturday...we finally got to have our family ski day. We'd planned it for a few weeks now, but what with one thing and another... and no snow! we had to wait. I always get nervous before we ski. I worry about everything, car wrecks on the icy roads, lost mittens... but the biggie, "Will I bite it really bad on the slopes today?" is in the forefront of my mind. It is always nice to get to the end of the day, still in one piece, the kids, with rosy cheeks, too tired to tease each other, and realize all was truly right in the world.
Brock made his skiing debut this weekend. We figured last year he'd rather spend the day with Gramma and Pop-pop than sit in the cold and snow. I was worried (again with the worrying!) that he'd get frustrated too easily, and sure enough after falling several times and having his skis pop off as he tried to figure out the tow rope on the turtle run. It came to tears rather quickly, so I did what any self respecting mom would do (right?), I signed him up for a 2 hour lesson. He won't cry for a perfect stranger. We peeked in after each run. No more tears. He did this really cute thing with his arms. They said to make a pizza shape with his skis... but he was having a hard time getting his feet apart and knees together so he'd stick his elbows in the air, like a puppet on a string or the scarecrow from wizard of oz with his wrists and hands dangling... It was like his arms and legs were connected and couldn't move independently.... knees together, elbows UP.


Caden decided he wanted to try snowboarding this year. While I was working with Brock, the big boys went to Bruin to try out the boards. After about the same amount of time and the same frustration level...Caden got a 2 hour lesson too. This is when the serious worrying sets in...(about me eating a face-ful of snow?..yes) and will my babies be okay without me....? thus the peeking after every run!


I have to say I had a really good time. I loved watching Tadhg snowboard. He makes it look sooooo easy. To have that carefree confidence! Beautiful. It was also nice to realize that I could keep up (and NOT fall down!) He wanted to progress to Eagle, but I convinced him that the "old folks" needed to work our way up, gain some confidence (and courage) before we tried out something steeper.

I tried getting some pictures of him "catching air"... I guess I missed the really great one.

That Brock boy!

Brock will keep me posting with all the funny things he says....

Today, right before dinner:

Curtis: "Who knows what happened today?"

Boys all together: "We got a new President."

Brock: "Yeah, it's Barackobama." (all one word and really fast)

Me: "Yes, it's Barack Obama."

Tadhg: "Not Brock Obama"

Brock: "Yeah, Barack" (totally sounds like Brock to me)

Tadhg: "Brock, you're the President?"

Brock: "No, I can't be President...I'm not brown."

more random conversations

A while ago:

(set the scene) Tadhg eating his after school snack. His mouth stuffed full of food.

Tadhg: "Brock, do you like see food?" (we all know this joke, right?!)
Brock: (completely straight faced) "No, I don't like fish."

We all start laughing so hard, and Brock is staring at us wondering what was so funny. Obviously, he didn't understand the joke, and the best part....It totally took the wind out of Tadhg's sail! Couldn't finish!


Yesterday:

For Christmas all the boys got MP3 players.

Brock: "Momma, do you know why I put the headphones in my ears? It's so my heart can hear the music."

I dodged the bullet! No jury duty for me! Yeah. I had to call back twice, but my services were no longer required. Yipee. I would have been bummed if I had to miss the Library tomorrow.
Started a kick-boxing class today. Let's just say I am not very coordinated. I did manage to make it through the whole class without kicking another person though. That's a good thing. Right? I realized I am a wimpy girl when she wanted us to do push-ups (girl ones with knees down, ankles crossed) after the first set of 16 I was feeling pretty proud that I hadn't wimped out, then she asks for 12 more then 8 more then mini pulses!!!! UGHHH.
Had a day in town with Brock yesterday, taking him to the dentist and running errands. Reminded me of when he was my shopping buddy, before he started school. He was so easy to hang around with. He talks a lot more now... :) Mr. Question boy. "Momma, how does this work?" He thinks I'm magic. That's an incredible feeling.
Wish all life was that easy, everyone so willing to see the best. Wish I could bottle this time. He is so sweet....except when he's mad at me. Then he draws a picture of me... in jail! :) Whatever!! Still love him.

I am trying to teach Tadhg about CHOICES. Not an easy task. I'm sure he hears and understands where I'm coming from, but...not sure it's really sinking in. "What do you want in life?" "Will that make you happy?" "Are you sure that is the best choice?" "Will that get you in trouble?" We are trying to find his "pause button" so maybe he can think before he acts. He is so smart and funny and can be quite charming when he wants to. Maybe that's why I love him so much, I can see what is inside. Wish I knew how to help him realize that HE is in control.

Quiet? Sunday Evening

It is a tradition in our house to have "quiet time" after church on Sundays and I look forward to it all week. I was worried that with the new year we'd get a new church schedule, and it would "infringe" on my quiet Sunday afternoons. We did get a new schedule, but YEAH it is better than ever. Now, we get to sleep in another hour in the morning and get our quiet afternoon! Except for today. But that was partly my fault. The boys did their time (and that is how they look at it....doing time!) but I never got mine, so it is now after dinner and because they had a rest they are bouncing off the walls! So NOT quiet now. As I was trying to cook dinner it was so chaotic I made them put on sweatshirts and flip flops and go jump on the trampoline until I was finished.

You've got to love dinner conversation. My boys come up with some pretty interesting topics and Brock, wanting to put in his 2 cents worth, says, "MOM, mom, MOM, mom" I look at him and say, "What Brock?" and he looks at me, then his face screws up and you can tell that he's thinking hard, (I'm not entirely sure if he forgot what he wanted to say or if he just wanted to be part of the conversation) and then says, kind of quiet, "never mind." It's so hard for a little (I use that word facetiously!) guy to get heard! Anyway....tonight, for some reason the topic was "man points". I know that some of you know about "man points" and some of you don't so here is a brief description. [With three boys in our house and no girls ( I really wouldn't know what to do with one!) we had to come up with a way to help them deal with disappointment, or fears or hurt feelings, injuries... whatever, so Curtis came up with "man points"] Keep in mind that these are young boys and originally it started out as a joke, but has taken on a life of it's own! Curtis likes to dare, and bet and basically tease... he frequently challenges the boys to do something that they would probably not normally do on their own. Things that now fall into the "manly" category. If you accept the challenge and do... whatever it is you get "man points". In order to earn man points you have to have a "man card". You have to really step up to get a "man card", for Brock it was riding California Screamin' roller coaster at California Adventure when he was just barely 6. For Caden it was jumping off a roof (don't freak out... it was into Curtis' arms and only a few feet at that! after he retrieved a ball) he is afraid of heights. I think Tadhg had to ride Malibu-mer, or something. If they do something exemplary, or handle a situation in a mature manner, or try something outside their comfort zone, they get a man point. (Tadhg got a man point for asking a girl to dance at his school dance... a slow song!) Well, they LOVE getting "man points" and tonight it came up after they had to walk to the trampoline IN THE DARK!!! Of course, and especially with Tadhg, it becomes a competition as to who has the most "man points". He threw out some ridiculous number like 42 and all heck broke loose! So we decided that with the new year the slate was wiped clean. Everyone starts at zero, but they still have their "man cards". So now, they are trying to think of things that they have done since Jan 1 that would get them some points on their card (actual physical cards and points don't exist, mind you!) So, Tadhg decided that he deserved a point for passing the sacrament at church today(very manly, indeed). Caden tried to talk us into awarding one for good behavior in Sunday school, but there was no way to prove it one way or the other :0! Curtis earned one for accepting the call to the Elders Quorum Presidency, and Brock told us that last year he had earned some for getting Hawk Awards and was sure he'd get another soon. After a few minutes of this they all look at me and say, "Mom needs 'woman points'!" I had to laugh. What, exactly, would I have to do to get woman points?? Crying at a movie? Get out a tough laundry stain? Not burn dinner? LOL! But it was nice of them to think of me. Oh, and if you are caught not being manly (being a pansy, or acting like a baby) there's the chance you could LOSE a point. [Brock informed me a month or so ago that he could NOT go see the new Tinkerbell movie because it would make him lose man points! but, if I wanted him to go with me, really bad, it would be okay! Funny boy.]


Saturday I got up early (oh my!) and went to the church in Oakhurst for a Merit Badge Clinic for the Boys Scouts. I was asked to be the Merit Badge Councilor for Genealogy. (I don't understand how scouting works...it's like a foreign language to me, with all the rules and special ways you have to do things, but...) I had about 6 boys show up, including Tadhg, and we went over what they needed to know in order to earn this badge. At one point I looked at these boys and saw the glazed looks on their faces and realized that I had become "that" person. You know, the one who bores you senseless with their enthusiasm for something you think is totally un-interesting! I had to laugh AND then make them promise that they wouldn't just throw away the time lines and interviews that they had to do for this badge, but give it to their moms. Try explaining to a bunch of 12 - 15 year old boys why, 60 years from now, their grand kids will think this piece of paper would seem cool! I KNOW they think I'm crazy :) After I had taught my classes I was sitting and waiting for Tadhg to be done and was talking to our new Bishop. He asked if I would be willing to continue in cub scouts, (everyone was released last week when they re-combined the 2 mountain wards) but this time as the Den Leader, not just the assistant. Panic washed over me. I am fine to help, but be IN charge! Plan! **Cause for stress** So, I run some errands in Oakhurst, one of which was to give blood at the Elks Lodge and come home. Maybe it was the combo of being a pint low and all that adrenaline from stress, but I felt like CRAP. And my mood wasn't much better. This *** is when I realize how thankful I am for good friends who, in talking with them, help me "get over my bad self". Thanks, you know who you are... I decided that I probably needed an attitude adjustment, it is not as bleak as it seems...a laugh, a smile and the world is right again. Thank goodness! How does that saying go?? Fake it, till you make it? Maybe I'll be a good Den Leader after all.

random conversation from Sunday dinner...

Brock: "I was at the hospital when mom bought me."

Tadhg: "Yeah, you cost two dollars and fifty cents."

Curtis: with eyebrows raised, "Buying children?"

Me: "..walking up and down the aisles, looking at the babies, 'Nope, don't want that one, it cries too much!' moving along...

Gramma: "oh look, a redhead, let's take him!"

Brock smiles.

and to finish the update...

Sorry had to take a break. Dinner with Pop-Pop and Gramma. Let's see... I got mostly through the boys, now....me!
It seems like I have been running non-stop (mostly in the "like a chicken with my head cut off" fashion) and this Christmas break has been a good break. Honestly, when it takes me months to finish a book you know I've been busy. I read two in the last week **contented sigh***.
Like I said, I have been working at school, volunteering in Brock's class. I started working on Mondays, then Thursdays and now it is Fridays. I love working in my kids' classes. {I've been to Kindergarten for 3 years!!!(and loved every one!)} I get a resounding "Good Morning Mrs. Flynn" when I walk in (the first few times I had to look over my shoulder, wondering where the heck Curtis' mother was??!!) followed by lots of hugs. Sometimes I think that the other kids are more excited to see me than my own, but hugs are great no matter where they come from. (Plus, this is where I get girl time..."Mrs. Flynn, can you put this bow back in my hair? This is a new jacket, do you like it? I got glitter nail polish!" Can't get that at home!) I usually get drug to the carpet and sat on (in a good way) by at least 3 kids, my own front and center if he can manage. I love it when Mr. Elliot gets out the guitar and they sing, that is so neat. Brock is always astounded when I know the words to one of the songs, (like Mr. Elliot made them all up!)
On Wednesdays I haul myself to Oakhurst to work in the Family History Library. When it is slow I work on finding my own ancestors. It has now become my mission (more like Mission Impossible... *deep voice* "your mission should you choose to accept it...") to hunt down O'Kelleys, Mortons, Wages, and Coats from here to Canada and back. I hound my Gran mercilessly during Sunday dinners for names and dates. I will find these people, I will!!! I think they are hiding on purpose... Never-the-less...I will prevail! But, I have found that I must limit myself to Wednesdays at the library or hours and hours will fly by and no one gets any dinner.
Wednesdays are also Cub Scout days, and I have been the assistant den leader for Caden's pack. Trying to get a roomful of boys to stay on task for more than 2 minutes is a joke, but a couple of Excedrin and the mantra "It's only for an hour and a half" has gotten me through since September.
Around October-ish, I started working part time for my friends, who own a Christmas type business. It was nice to get out, some adult conversation, a little pocket money...but it did make me think longingly of those rose tinted hours to fill as I pleased. Lucky for them, the lousy economy didn't affect their orders, (they said I was the lucky charm... I'd work and they'd get more orders!) What started as 1 day became a week, then every spare minute up to Christmas break. It's kind of nice to be needed.
Of course, there is the regular, at home stuff that fills up the after school hours. I have found that I am much better at Algebra at 35 than I was at 16, but it normally takes me just as long to check the homework as it takes them to do it. (except, I get x3!... but Brock's is pretty easy.)
Tadhg tells me that I am the "fun nazi" and I have earned quite a reputation with their little friends, who's parents have started limiting xbox time after finding out about 'our' house rules. But, we still seem to have more than a few extra boys around the house and my boys don't seem too down-trodden...it's amazing how they'll get up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday to play xbox, but can't drag themselves up for school!!!
There are still a few home projects left to finish (the list grows, but rarely shrinks) on the remodel/conversion and I get to them as I can. But it has been nice to take the last year off, sort of, ...at least I'm not making weekly trips to Lowes and tripping over power tools.
I had taken a break from my digi-scrappin' and never did finish my last class, once school started. I felt kind of rusty, but had to kick it into high gear to get the Christmas Calendars out. Felt a lot like college, pulling all-nighters to meet that deadline (that I procrastinated) Still didn't get there in time! I made 2 versions this year, a wall calendar and a cd size ( cuz my momma asked me nicely!) I'll post some when I get around to it. Despite the frantic, 'didn't I take more pictures? where are those pictures?' I really enjoy doing my scrapbooking *note to self... take more pictures*. I hadn't printed any off, just looked at them on the computer screen, before I printed out the calendars. I was pleasantly surprised. I was afraid they'd look funky or cheesy. I guess I'm a tactile person and I like to touch the paper layers and the fun things that pop off the page, but these were okay. I'll probably do both or a combination (hybrid scrapping, yes, there is a name for my sickness!) once again, if/when I get around to it.
I have been sooo good about keeping up with my blog that I decided to join facebook, too! Like I need another thing I feel compelled to do each day! I have heard that it becomes quite addictive (like I need another addiction!) maybe, between the two I can keep in touch with family and friends and feel connected, even if it is that nebulous, floating out there in 'computer space' kind of connection. Hey, I've had more positive communication with Tadhg on my facebook wall than in real life for the last 4 days.
Tomorrow starts real life again, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, sometimes it's pretty great. We'll see how I do, I'll try to keep you posted....

Happy New Year! So, okay I'm only 4 days late, but that is about par for this girl's life... I know, I know there has been nothing here for the last 4 months, (or more) what can I say. I'm a busy girl, lots to do. Much more than I thought. I had these rose colored ideas of all this free time I'd have once school started. I wasn't really sure what I'd do during that glorious ME time, but it was coming, I knew it was... It's a good thing I wasn't specific, because not much *free* time was forth coming.
School started like a whirlwind. Brock was thrilled to be back, and for the entire day too! The other two, not so much. I did get the required first day of school pictures, but little else went as planned. There were some teacher/ class assignment issues that had me stressing for...oh, probably the first whole month of school! And I learned a very important lesson (good to know that I CAN still learn :)!!) which was...sometimes I DON'T always know what is best for my kids. Needless to say, the sun still rose and set and life did go on.
Brock ended up in just the exactly "right" place for him. His teacher, Mr. Elliott, is no nonsense and expects a lot out of these 1st graders, and you know what? They can.. and do.
Brock (gotta love that boy!) gave Mr. Elliott and I a run that first month. I have some friends who would ask me "So, what did Brock DO today? I know there has to be a story here!" and then they'd laugh and laugh when I told them about his 'exploits' (no pun intended, but there could have been...) It was one of those situations where you can laugh or you can cry, and they helped me to laugh. Thanks for that!
I had planned to work in class this year...and I got to, sometimes multiple days a week. I know Mr. Elliott was grateful and I really do love to be there. Once the lines were firmly drawn and all the rules fully explained (and a few privileges lost, for a few weeks in a row!) Brock excelled. He loves praise and in October was able to get his first ever Hawk Award! He was so proud, and he told me that now he knew 'how' to get one he'd get lots.
Caden, that little trooper, is so easy going...and forgiving. He just goes with the flow and doesn't complain, even when it's not exactly what he wants (hmmm... lesson there too?) He's been holding out on us! He got a gold honor role the first quarter without even breaking a sweat. He spends his free time reading the encyclopedia (not a joke!) and learning interesting facts about whatever has caught his fancy that day. Can I just tell you I love, LOVE going to parent-teacher conferences for this kid!! He was part of the science club after school and looked forward to each meeting so they could "blow things up!" I must have washed 4 copies of the periodic table, and he'd get a new one, to 'keep in his pocket'.
Tadhg demonstrated exactly how old I was this year by having the nerve to be in the **7th*** grade! You can NOT have a kid in 7th grade and be young. So, I guess I'm OLD. He loves Jr. High. He came home that first week and said, "Mom, school goes by sooo fast now!" He likes having different teachers and classes. He always has been 'on the go', now school can keep up with him! His parent teacher conference was really great. I did have to stop his home room teacher once, just to make sure, that she had the right parent or child.? She said he was a model student! (Yeah, that's where I had to verify..) I made the mistake of bragging to my mom and he found out. Apparently, he doesn't LIKE being a model student! Can you say contrary? Skiing starts this quarter so I'm sure all will be sorted out. He won't want to lose eligibility...come on, skiing or snowboarding every Friday or--- sitting in class...Hmmm.. He's played on the school flag football and basketball teams (he shoots an awesome 3 pointer} and **Yeah** had a growth spurt. He's getting closer to looking me in the eye, and catching up with his friends. I've had to buy new jeans because of his green bean legs. Oh, and he is wicked awesome.

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.