Tuesday, June 8
Friday, May 28
SPRINKLES CHALLANGE
I am sure you have probably heard me mention Stacy Julian on my blog before (several times) and I just love completing her challenges. Especially her Sprinkles challenge. They are always simple, always fun, and always something to help brighten your week. This week's challenge was: Time to treat your toes right, and so that is what I did.
Here is the link to her Sprinkles Challenge #34: http://stacyjulian.com/sprinkles/?p=358
Last week's Sprinkle was to find water and sit by it for 15 minutes. I did take the kids with me on this excursion. But none-the-less, we sat and listened to the water running in the creek for 15 minutes. Pure bliss!
Here is the link to Sprinkle Challenge #33: http://www.stacyjulian.com/sprinkles/?p=347
Here is the link to her Sprinkles Challenge #34: http://stacyjulian.com/sprinkles/?p=358
Last week's Sprinkle was to find water and sit by it for 15 minutes. I did take the kids with me on this excursion. But none-the-less, we sat and listened to the water running in the creek for 15 minutes. Pure bliss!Here is the link to Sprinkle Challenge #33: http://www.stacyjulian.com/sprinkles/?p=347
Here's to a purely blissful, water-filled, toe-painted week!
Thursday, May 13
In love with a Photo Booth
Have you ever tried a photo booth? I am truly in love with them. If I see one, and it works, I am always enticed to pay the $1 and go for it! This was just the case on our recent trip to Chicago. We took the kids to the children's museum, at Navy Pier (we have a traveling pass, that is good for the entire year, and gets us into numerous children's museums across the country) and low and behold, on the 3rd floor of the children's museum was a "working" photo booth. I put working in quotes because most of the photo booths I seem to come across, are not in working order. I was delighted to find that this one worked. We all had a blast, for a buck! Can't get much for a buck these days, but these are priceless!
Enjoy!!! Have a great day!
Enjoy!!! Have a great day!Sunday, May 2
Prom 2010
I don't actually know what is more exciting. Going to your own prom, or having your child attend his first prom. Yesterday morning almost felt like we were getting ready for a wedding. Everything was centered around when his date was getting her hair done, was the formal ready to wear, showers taken, flowers attached. It was a pretty amazing day. The Grand March is always held outdoors on the local courthouse lawn. It is also taped and played continuously throughout the following week, on our local broadcasting channel. There were tons of people there, so I am glad that we got to the courthouse early. Beautiful music played in the background as each couple was announced as they walked down the steps and under the arch.
M is all ready to leave to get his date. She is actually on the phone, telling him when to come.
M and T. Beautiful couple. I am partial, but I think they were the best looking couple there.
T's dress was gorgeous. I'm so glad that the traditional prom dresses are back in style. Mine in high school was very big and billowy too. An experience you never forget. I thought about all the proms I went to, a little bit yesterday. Seems like yesterday.
This is my favorite photo. They look so good together. Awww......
I love this one too, on the courthouse lawn. I said a little prayer before he left, yesterday afternoon, that he would have a great time, and be safe. He did, on both accounts.
M is all ready to leave to get his date. She is actually on the phone, telling him when to come.
M and T. Beautiful couple. I am partial, but I think they were the best looking couple there.
T's dress was gorgeous. I'm so glad that the traditional prom dresses are back in style. Mine in high school was very big and billowy too. An experience you never forget. I thought about all the proms I went to, a little bit yesterday. Seems like yesterday.
This is my favorite photo. They look so good together. Awww......
I love this one too, on the courthouse lawn. I said a little prayer before he left, yesterday afternoon, that he would have a great time, and be safe. He did, on both accounts.Sunday, March 28
Catching up
Gosh, it's been a long time since I sat down at this computer and typed. Life is busy, and it moves fast. Sometimes faster than I feel comfortable with. The past few months have brought a new insight to my life, and maybe slowing down is the answer. We've made a lot of changes. Mostly good ones, some we'd rather just forget. But all the same, we trudge forward at a steady pace, and hope for a better tomorrow.
This past weekend I spent with Matt at the Annual Homeschool Conference in Peoria. All in all, it was a good conference. Matt learned quite a lot about applying for college, scholarships (availability, and when to start the process of applying), and the whole interviewing process, the right college for you, and so forth. He's only a sophomore, and I thought we were right on schedule with everything, but apparently we are a bit behind in the game. They are now advising that as a freshman, you should start to begin researching.
Matt and I stayed at the Staybridge Suites that is located right across from the Civic Center, where the conference was located. Friday night, I let Matt choose where he wanted to eat dinner, and he (being as daring as I am to try new foods) began looking for a fun and interesting place to eat. Well, he found it. Nestled among many little shops in a strip mall, was a fun little Sushi Bar, that we just had to check out. Very art deco inside, with a very modern feel to it. Sculptural paintings in bright colors decorated the walls, in a very refined and sophisticated way. Each sushi roll was served in a decorative style, and cut into 6-8 slices. Matt and I decided that we both wanted to try each others for variety, so we each ordered a roll, and a soda to drink. Matt ordered the Crispy Dog, and I ordered The Volcano. I believe we also ordered The Ninja. They first brought us each out a bowl of seaweed soup (yum!) and then our platter of rolls came out one at a time. All were simply divine, but our favorite was definitely The Volcano. Each roll was sliced and arranged on the plate in a very artsy fashion, with wasabi and other various sauces drizzled in a decorative style about the plate. Matt took photos with his phone. We ate, and laughed, and talked about how grandma and mom, would love this place, and how his dad would not. I realized for the first time, that my son had somehow become a man before my eyes. He was no longer the child that I had to raise, or instruct. But a companion, and a friend.
I remember when I was 17. My mom and I had been at odds for a few years, and we had somehow drifted apart. Mainly what I am seeing now with Matt at times. Perfectly normal teenage stuff. Although my situation was somewhat different because mom and dad had foster kids too, so my life (and not only my life, but my siblings as well) was somewhat harder at times because we had to share our parents with others, and sometimes it felt as if we weren't as important to them, and that we were always fighting for their attention. We all sort of went off in our separate ways, and did our best to fill in the gaps where we felt void. Well, when I was 17, mom invited me to go to a homemaker's convention, just me and her. We talked, and went out to dinner, and at first it felt awkward, but as the weekend wore on, it became nice, and pleasant, and I still hold that memory dear to me now, as an adult. I see that this past weekend with Matt, was much the same. We learned from each other, and really communicated. We watched a comedian Friday night, and we both laughed ourselves silly. It's definitely a memory that I will hold for the rest of my life, and assume that Matt will too. I'm glad we had the chance to spend some time together alone. The importance of alone time with each other is so vital to feeling accepted within the realms of a family. Whether it's husband/wife time, father/son time, or mother/son time. The time to say: "How's it goin? How's it really goin?" And then waiting for the answer. (I got that from the conference, this past weekend) for any of you who are reading this and attended too. Wise words (or questions) that I never really thought of asking before. Really listening to what the other person has to say. Maybe I will go into more detail, on what that particular session was about, at a later time. I'd like to go through all the sessions with you, just in case you are interested. I find a lot of good information on other people's blogs about homeschooling, saving money, eating healthy, etc... I guess it's my turn to share.
Some other changes: We are dogless (petless). We just haven't had enough time to spend with the dogs, and they were causing me stress by all the messes they were making and so forth, so Scott took them up to Carlock, to an animal shelter up there called CISAR.
Link: http://www.cisarshelter.com/
They post photos of the animals and find good homes for them.
It's really been a blessing in disguise for us, because we knew we didn't want them to be killed if someone didn't adopt them right away. CISAR is a "no kill" shelter.
My home daycare has slowed down some to the point that I only have 4 kids that I watch, besides my own, instead of 9 that I was taking care of in Jan/Feb. It was really too much, and I just couldn't handle the stress of it all. 4 is pretty comfortable.
I have been using my tailoring skills lately, altering an Easter dress for a lady at church. So I am actually using my college skills, that I worked so hard to pay for.
We are getting ready to start Spring Break, Apr. 4-9. We'll be heading up to Chicago Schaumberg area for Ethan's birthday on the 8th. We plan to visit some museums, and have lunch at the Rainforest Cafe'. They have a very cool volcano birthday cake, that would make any little boy get all excited about. Then of course there's Legoland to consider, and IKEA for me, and of course a HUGE Cabella's store for Scott, and the boys. It will surely be a fun short vacation.
Looking forward to cleaning the family room a bit more today, and maybe getting the kid's to clean their rooms. Happy Sunday!
This past weekend I spent with Matt at the Annual Homeschool Conference in Peoria. All in all, it was a good conference. Matt learned quite a lot about applying for college, scholarships (availability, and when to start the process of applying), and the whole interviewing process, the right college for you, and so forth. He's only a sophomore, and I thought we were right on schedule with everything, but apparently we are a bit behind in the game. They are now advising that as a freshman, you should start to begin researching.
Matt and I stayed at the Staybridge Suites that is located right across from the Civic Center, where the conference was located. Friday night, I let Matt choose where he wanted to eat dinner, and he (being as daring as I am to try new foods) began looking for a fun and interesting place to eat. Well, he found it. Nestled among many little shops in a strip mall, was a fun little Sushi Bar, that we just had to check out. Very art deco inside, with a very modern feel to it. Sculptural paintings in bright colors decorated the walls, in a very refined and sophisticated way. Each sushi roll was served in a decorative style, and cut into 6-8 slices. Matt and I decided that we both wanted to try each others for variety, so we each ordered a roll, and a soda to drink. Matt ordered the Crispy Dog, and I ordered The Volcano. I believe we also ordered The Ninja. They first brought us each out a bowl of seaweed soup (yum!) and then our platter of rolls came out one at a time. All were simply divine, but our favorite was definitely The Volcano. Each roll was sliced and arranged on the plate in a very artsy fashion, with wasabi and other various sauces drizzled in a decorative style about the plate. Matt took photos with his phone. We ate, and laughed, and talked about how grandma and mom, would love this place, and how his dad would not. I realized for the first time, that my son had somehow become a man before my eyes. He was no longer the child that I had to raise, or instruct. But a companion, and a friend.
I remember when I was 17. My mom and I had been at odds for a few years, and we had somehow drifted apart. Mainly what I am seeing now with Matt at times. Perfectly normal teenage stuff. Although my situation was somewhat different because mom and dad had foster kids too, so my life (and not only my life, but my siblings as well) was somewhat harder at times because we had to share our parents with others, and sometimes it felt as if we weren't as important to them, and that we were always fighting for their attention. We all sort of went off in our separate ways, and did our best to fill in the gaps where we felt void. Well, when I was 17, mom invited me to go to a homemaker's convention, just me and her. We talked, and went out to dinner, and at first it felt awkward, but as the weekend wore on, it became nice, and pleasant, and I still hold that memory dear to me now, as an adult. I see that this past weekend with Matt, was much the same. We learned from each other, and really communicated. We watched a comedian Friday night, and we both laughed ourselves silly. It's definitely a memory that I will hold for the rest of my life, and assume that Matt will too. I'm glad we had the chance to spend some time together alone. The importance of alone time with each other is so vital to feeling accepted within the realms of a family. Whether it's husband/wife time, father/son time, or mother/son time. The time to say: "How's it goin? How's it really goin?" And then waiting for the answer. (I got that from the conference, this past weekend) for any of you who are reading this and attended too. Wise words (or questions) that I never really thought of asking before. Really listening to what the other person has to say. Maybe I will go into more detail, on what that particular session was about, at a later time. I'd like to go through all the sessions with you, just in case you are interested. I find a lot of good information on other people's blogs about homeschooling, saving money, eating healthy, etc... I guess it's my turn to share.
Some other changes: We are dogless (petless). We just haven't had enough time to spend with the dogs, and they were causing me stress by all the messes they were making and so forth, so Scott took them up to Carlock, to an animal shelter up there called CISAR.
Link: http://www.cisarshelter.com/
They post photos of the animals and find good homes for them.
It's really been a blessing in disguise for us, because we knew we didn't want them to be killed if someone didn't adopt them right away. CISAR is a "no kill" shelter.
My home daycare has slowed down some to the point that I only have 4 kids that I watch, besides my own, instead of 9 that I was taking care of in Jan/Feb. It was really too much, and I just couldn't handle the stress of it all. 4 is pretty comfortable.
I have been using my tailoring skills lately, altering an Easter dress for a lady at church. So I am actually using my college skills, that I worked so hard to pay for.
We are getting ready to start Spring Break, Apr. 4-9. We'll be heading up to Chicago Schaumberg area for Ethan's birthday on the 8th. We plan to visit some museums, and have lunch at the Rainforest Cafe'. They have a very cool volcano birthday cake, that would make any little boy get all excited about. Then of course there's Legoland to consider, and IKEA for me, and of course a HUGE Cabella's store for Scott, and the boys. It will surely be a fun short vacation.
Looking forward to cleaning the family room a bit more today, and maybe getting the kid's to clean their rooms. Happy Sunday!
Monday, January 11
New Winter Scrapbook Layouts
So it all started because Scott purchased me a variety of new scrapbooking supplies this past Christmas (3 weeks ago), and since the kids and I were on break from school, I thought it might be fun to do a little scrapbooking. Well, a little scrapbooking was a bit of an understatement. I guess I got a little carried away. Anyway, enjoy :)
Some still need some journaling, but for the most part they are complete. I also completed 11 pages this past weekend at the Winter scrapbooking retreat. Lots of fun! I was also asked to do a scrapbook demonstration of my December Daily album, that I created from an idea on Ali Edward's blog. It was fun, and it gave a lot of people some new ideas about scrapbooking over the holidays. Of course, I didn't take complete credit for the idea, and pointed them in the direction of Ali's blog, in-case they needed further instruction. I always give credit where credit is due.
Some still need some journaling, but for the most part they are complete. I also completed 11 pages this past weekend at the Winter scrapbooking retreat. Lots of fun! I was also asked to do a scrapbook demonstration of my December Daily album, that I created from an idea on Ali Edward's blog. It was fun, and it gave a lot of people some new ideas about scrapbooking over the holidays. Of course, I didn't take complete credit for the idea, and pointed them in the direction of Ali's blog, in-case they needed further instruction. I always give credit where credit is due.
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