Mindless musings in Minnesota

April 22-30

2010-05-02T22:12:00.002-05:00

2010-04-29T22:55:00.001-05:00

April 15 - 21

2010-04-25T06:24:00.002-05:00

April 8 - 14

2010-04-25T05:44:00.002-05:00

April 1-7

2010-04-21T22:46:00.005-05:00

fyi... wordart is going to be changed on this layout. It's just not sitting well with me.

April has been somewhat frustrating for me. Lots of frustration at work that just seems to have carried over into real life. It doesn't feel like I've accomplished much. Oh well, I've started on my April POTD layouts. I'm also going to attempt to teach some ward members how to digi scrap and so I completed the layout that we will be doing for that.

March 22 - 31

2010-04-01T22:12:00.001-05:00

March 15 - 21

2010-03-28T22:21:00.002-05:00

March 8-14

2010-03-18T23:31:00.000-05:00

POTD March 1-7

2010-03-15T09:38:00.002-05:00

Releasing the floodgates of emotion

2010-03-03T21:40:00.002-06:00

This made me laugh so I had to write it down so I don't forget it.

John is a pretty funny guy - after any type of social outing, i.e. party, temple trip etc. he LOVES to talk & talk & talk. I generally learn quite a bit about the goings on of the youth in the ward during this 'decompression', which is what we call it. Tonight I picked him up after a temple trip & he was quiet driving home. I inquired as to the silence & his response was he hadn't 'compressed' so he didn't need to 'decompress'. I asked exactly what that meant ... and this was his definition of decompression....

"Releasing the floodgates of emotion" - I kid you not! I started laughing so hard & he just started laughing & said he was just improvising... yea right!

Releasing the floodgates of emotion!!

2010-03-02T12:34:00.002-06:00

I've finished out my February layouts.

2010-02-25T22:58:00.002-06:00

Going back to work on January's layouts.

More Feb POTD layouts

2010-02-24T22:22:00.000-06:00

Feb POTD Layout

2010-02-23T19:47:00.006-06:00

I've been playing around for a few days & enjoying getting back into digi mode. I've finally come up with my plan for scrapping my daily photos. I finished the first 4 pages for February.

PODT 2/8 - 2/11

2010-02-11T23:04:00.010-06:00

This has been such an interesting project - at least for me. While life is somewhat mundane - I go to work in the morning - I come home at night. We do homework, watch some news, fix dinner & clean up & off to slumberland before starting all over again. I suppose what I've tried to do is to take pictures of things that are common for me today - places we go today (gas station, cafe at work)

8: Front of house during snowstorm

9: Gas prices when I filled my car with gas today. (No, I didn't buy the Doritos and yes, that is a pile of snow just under the sign!)

10: Substituted for Activity Days - each girl got a cute mailbox & then we made Scratch Off valentines (cute idea) for each member of their families. I had such good intentions of taking their pictures while they were working on them, but when I finally remembered to take a picture after cleaning up - these were the only 3 left, along with Sister Oku.

11: 4th floor of the building I work in. GREAT sandwiches are made here. The food is a bit gourmet for me so on those days when I don't have a frozen lunch I have a sandwich. 1/2 ham sandwich on whole grain bread, provolone cheese, tomato, cucumber & just a touch of mayo. I'm in such a rut.

Here's a link to the Valentines we made. I didn't want to do lottery tickets, so I just made them that shape & let the girls decorate them the way they wanted. They LOVED the novelty of writing a message under a heart that had to be scratched off.

Valentines

POTD 1/30 - 2/7

2010-02-06T19:59:00.004-06:00

I am also doing 2 page digi layouts for each week, but since I'm a bit behind on those, I'm using this space to keep track of the pictures...

30: Swimming

31: Helping clean up after 5th Sunday soup at the church

February 1: A snowy commute

2: Ben says "No" with an amazing Minnesota accent. This is capturing his face when he says it.

3: Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner

4: Our house number (will crop this for the layout :) )

5: Missing picture :(

6: Shopping at Target

7: Pizza for dinner

POTD 1/22 - 1/29

2010-01-29T21:30:00.005-06:00

Jan 22: What a motley crew... ready for winter camping & the Klondike Derby. The only problem? It RAINED & RAINED & RAINED. What happened to winter in Minnesota? Oh well, they had fun which is the important part.

Jan 23: Picture from our living room window. A dreary day for sure. They're busy building another building right next to us.

Jan 24: John gave a talk in Church today on "An Attitude of Gratitude". He did an AMAZING job.

Jan 25: Ben being goofy... you'd have to see it to truly understand.

Jan 26: Hmmm, what to say?

Jan 27: My first every hybrid project. It turned out so CUTE!!! I had a free template I downloaded & used the mailbox from the $1 spot at Target.

Jan 28: I don't know if I want to explain this picture...

Jan 29: Lego's are the toy of choice today...

POTD 1/16 - 1/21

2010-01-21T14:53:00.003-06:00

We have been sick around here. It started on Friday when I got a call from the school that Ben had thrown up & even though school was over he couldn't ride the bus home. He was miserable -and after him I got it - I barely made it home from work on Monday & then went straight to bed. Now John is sharing in the joy & I'm hoping that we are all healthy soon. Thus lots of staying home & not doing much as you can see from the pictures :)

Jan 16: Zelda was the game of choice on the Wii today.

Jan 17: Back to the Wii - we are determined to complete Super Mario Bros as a family. After world 8 is a 'secret' world 9. After working & working & working together we finally completed Land 9-2. J & B were so overjoyed that they jumped up to do a belly slam.

Jan 18: MLK Day - no school for boys, but I got to work (until too sick to deal with it). As I came down the stairs to go to work this was the scene. John asleep on the couch, Ben playing a game on the new iTouch.

Jan 19: After discovering Vince Flynn as an author I've been having fun going back & reading through all the 'Mitch Rapp' novels.

Jan 20: Ben with his Scout Leaders.

Jan 21: John got sick again so back to plain foods. We've been eating a lot of plain potatoes from Wendy's...

POTD 1/11 - 1/15

2010-01-15T20:58:00.004-06:00

Jan 11 - Ben built this really cool K'nex roller coaster. When I just downloaded the pictures thought I discovered that the picture he took didn't show the top. He's asleep on the couch (had to pick him up at school sick today) & so I'll do that tomorrow.

Jan 12 - Since moving into our new house I've enjoyed always having a candle burning. As you can see, I'm almost at the end of Vanilla Icing... wonder what will be next? :)

Jan 13 - A wonderful surprise came in the mail today. These gorgeous honeybell oranges. Thank you Amy... you really didn't need to, but we will enjoy them.

Jan 14 - Ben had his 1st band concert. We didn't get great pictures, but he did a great job & has enjoyed learning how to play the trombone.

Jan 15 - On my way to work today - a dreary Minnesota morning, just as I'm preparing to get on the freeway to go downtown.

In other news, the dr. finally figured out what is ailing me. I have extremely low levels of Vitamin D in addition to the low hemoglobin. I had envisioned all sorts of horrible things, but am greatful it's something simple & manageable. Vitamin D & Iron anyone? There is plenty to be found at our house! :)

Anemia cont...

2010-01-12T12:33:00.003-06:00

It's funny, now that I realize my hemoglobin is so low I REALLY feel tired :) Tomorrow I have the 'privilege' of having a Colonoscopy. This morning as I was straining soup so I would have some broth for my lunch today I told them I only was able to have liquids - no food. You should have seen the frightened look Ben gave me. Apparently they are all too familiar with my frame of mind when I get overly hungry.

So, being a bit tired & not feeling like doing much I make J & B play our new Wii game that we got for Christmas - Super Mario Bros. We have been having so much fun playing together - well, I have fun & they willingly stop what they are doing to play with me. So last night I asked for 30 minutes of their time. Being the 'obedient' sons that they are they came to play. Well, we are at the final castle & they got so involved in the game that when I said 30 minutes was up - there was no stopping them. "But we have to get past this?" After another 30 minutes we decided Super Bowser would have to wait to be defeated another day.

Picture of the DAy

2010-01-10T20:08:00.006-06:00

Last year in the scrapping world - P365 was a big deal. That entailed taking a picture each day that represented your day & the people that accomplished that have all commented on what an amazing record of their year that was. I decided to go ahead & do that this year & will actually use this blog to keep my notes until I can get around to scrapping them. With that... our first 10 days of 2010

Jan 1 - We invited some friends over to play Wii on New Years Eve. As we were playing games & having fun John went to the drawer of CD's & pulled out this CD - cuz they were hippies! We listened for awhile & then our guest said that he didn't know that America sung a specific song. John looked up & said, "America? You mean that's the name of the band?" Oh we all laughed & laughed. He literally thought it was America's (the country) greatest hits.

Jan 2 - Santa brought us a new keyboard this year & Ben has been having a lot of fun learning & experimenting with it.

Jan 3 - Brothers & best friends (depending on the day!)

Jan 4 - Ben was learning about Egypt & made an irrigation system out of Legos.

Jan 5 - John's Science Fair - he made a steam engine

Jan 6 - What John & Ben do best - play computer games.

Jan 7 - One of my many Bullseye dogs at my desk at work. A friend had given this to me for being a 'lifesaver' & helping her with Photoshop.

Jan 8 - Picture to come. A picture of the hospital I spent quality time at. Once again it has appeared that I have anemia & so I had to go in for an Endoscopy to try to figure out why I can't keep all my hemo'goblins' as J & B call them.

Jan 9 - Ben had a fun opportunity to sleep out in an igloo in our Bishop's backyard with the other 11 yr old scouts. It was toasty warm with the new sleeping bag he & John got for Christmas. Was made for winter camping. Good thing - it was -10 that night.

Trust me - it's a cute picture with 9 amazing kids!

Jan 10 - My Primary class. I was released today from being a Primary teacher & Activity Day leader. After being in Primary for so long I will definitely miss all the kids, but will continue to teach until my replacement has been found.

It's been interesting when I originally thought about doing this, I didn't think interesting things occurred on a daily basis. While they aren't all that interesting - they do make up my life & it will be fun to remember.

Still alive... but very cold!

2010-01-03T20:51:00.006-06:00

Moving seemed to really overwhelm me and so I've just kind of been plugging along working on getting organized. Many people ask me about getting the house all decorated, but we're just enjoying having so much space. Until you see where we moved from you can't truly appreciate it. While I hate J & B wrestling - at least now they have the floor space to do it, same for Ben's legos & roller coaster building. I've decided to not worry about getting it perfectly fei shung (or whatever), but to keep it so there is lots of room to just live, be it legos or wrestling or reading. While I absolutely love my kitchen I think the biggest change for me is to have privacy & my own bathroom. I've found some fun furniture at an auction site that auctions off model home furniture. When Mom was here, she went to look at some stuff & talked me into this HUGE dresser. While I don't have photos of the whole house... I do have photos of the dresser & my room (for Lorna & Mom)

Lorna came for a few days (thank goodness!) & unpacked every box in my house. Mom stayed for a few weeks & we all enjoyed having her here to help us pull everything together. The boys enjoyed having someone there to make them a snack when they got home from school. She even tried to teach John to dance...

I know Mom is going to hate this picture, but I love how John is just laughing at the whole situation.

My own bedroom - how sweet the words! :)

View from the closet - with a boy on the bed

The new dresser that I got an amazing deal on

Happy Boy? maybe not...

Ben in the living room - with LOTS of floor space. We absolutely are enjoying all the space.

Beyond that... not a lot going on. Hopefully, I'll be updating this more... lots of ideas about how to document the year of 2010... so we'll see what I end up doing.

Why I love blogging...

2009-10-11T23:12:00.003-05:00

I've neglected my blog lately for other mundane things, like packing boxes, being sick with bronchitis, working etc... but tonight I laughed & laughed & laughed some more. And then I realized that I needed to apologize for my selfish self. What kind of meanie was I back in the day? Was I so insecure that I needed to be a recipe hog? Sadly, after being so hoggish with my chicken marinade recipe (that I got from someone when I worked at the hospital in Provo eons ago) I haven't made it since my days in California.

So... tonight an old roomate found me on Facebook. I'd just been thinking about this person & wondering how she was so I was excited. Then I found that she had a blog - how fun to go back & read about what she has been up to. Sadly, I found mention of myself in this blog & my behaviour was anything but positive. So... in an attempt to clear my name & prove to the world that I can share a recipe I share the post that made me laugh & laugh & laugh. I love blogging as it allows us to see into the personalities of those we meet along the path of life. And so I thank Lisa for providing me with some much needed levity & I hope that she's forgiven me after all these years.

http://lisaann-whatscookingatourhouse.blogspot.com/2009/04/copyrights-and-wrongs.html

Last preview pictures ...

2009-09-30T14:41:00.003-05:00

We're getting close to the end - Yeah!! these are the last preview pictures I'm going to post. We're scheduled to close on Oct 20th and we are beyond ready! Last weekend we rode our bikes over for a peek & met our new next door neighbors. Apparently they are as excited as we are & had come to check things out. I guess that's what we all do on the weekends as there were at least 3 people there that day.

I think some cleaning needs to be done before we move in. Oh & a few appliances are needed. You can't see the wood floor as they have it covered up to protect it.

The view from the living room. You can see the staircase coming up & then going up more. Bottom floor has garage, 1/2 bath & boys 'man cave'. Middle floor - kitchen, living room, dining room & 1/2 bath. Top floor - 3 bedrooms, 2 baths & laundry area.

A very empty & lonely living room ... perhaps it will be happier when we move in!

Just a different angle to see the kitchen - from the living room.

New pics...

2009-09-06T17:43:00.004-05:00

2009-08-19T20:08:00.004-05:00

Just a couple of updated pictures...

I had my first inspection walk through yesterday with the field manager. He walked me through all the mechanical stuff... and made sure we were all on the same page with chosen options & different stuff.... Today they started the sheet rocking. It's going to be very nice & I am absolutely thrilled at this opportunity!

Quick House update

2009-08-06T19:46:00.004-05:00

This is how it looked when we got back from Colorado

Looking for suggestions on window coverings for this 9 ft window!!!

This is how it looked today... less than 2 weeks later. It's getting exciting!

2009-07-29T20:54:00.002-05:00

I did something today I don't normally do...

As I was leaving downtown tonight, traffic was a bit crazier than usual due to construction & a woman on her cell phone was blocking the lane in front of me & that made me grumpy, but after getting past her I was stopped at the light - just ready to get on the freeway. I glanced over to the corner & there was a woman with her sign up "Need Help, Will work..." I don't remember as I didn't really glance at the sign. It's not an unusual sight in downtown Minneapolis as panhandlers are out every day, but as I glanced at this woman I saw such a look of weariness, of embarrassment of where she was & my heart ached for her. How close to that position are any of us really? As I caught her eye & quickly reached out to give here a mere $5 & wished her well she had such a look of gratitude as she thanked me. As I drove home I realized I didn't know how or on what she would spend my tiny pittance, but I imagined her buying milk for her children or perhaps she would spend it foolishly, but I hoped that my smile and small gift would help her day be a bit brighter & less lonely. I know that she had helped me put things a bit more into perspective.

House Update

2009-07-03T14:41:00.003-05:00

We finally took some more pictures of the new house - we're getting excited!

2009-07-02T14:20:00.007-05:00

This YouTube video was just sent to me & I wanted to share. It's your 'wisdom' & inspiration for the day.

I'm not sure what stake was performing, but I'm so glad that John was able to participate in the LDS Encampment this year. He got sunburned, bug bitten beyond belief, wet & filthy... but what an opportunity for him. He made lots of new friends from different wards, survived in the wilderness (one of the nights it rained), learned orienteering & other things from great leaders & now has lots of new stories to tell. I couldn't have found a better place for him to have spent the week.

2009-07-01T22:13:00.003-05:00

I know people come here for my amazing words of wisdom - ha! and all I do is show off my digi scrapping layouts. I'll work on wisdom... it make take some time though!

2009-06-24T19:52:00.004-05:00

While I don't like pictures of me - I thought this turned out fun!~

While John is gone - something has happened to Ben. He's turned into John - the kid who doesn't spend much time on the computer has spent ALL his time playing Rome Total War. Bad parenting - today when I called him he told me his assasin was killing all the people in Macedonia & Rome. Thankfully, someone came along & took care of his 'assasin' before I got home from work. I'm repenting of my poor parenting tomorrow & he's going on a field trip with the school for a day of bowling & laser tag.

Perhaps I should explain Ben's errant behaviour. This summer J & B are attending Peak Adventures - it's the middle school daycare. The beauty of it is they are signed up to attend only 3 days a week, which saves me $$ & allows them to have 2 days of lazy home time. He is also signed up for the Boys Reading Book Club at the library lest you think they only play computer games :) I think they get tired of me calling them all day when they are home alone, but it gives me peace of mind & I know the neighbors are always there if needed.

Ok - have I justified that I'm not really a bad parent? :) :) :)

2009-06-23T21:03:00.002-05:00

J & B made it back from Canada & after doing John's laundry he left again - this week he is at the Scout Encampment with all the stakes from Minnesota. It's extremely hot, so I'm hoping he's finding ways to stay cool - but he should be having lots of fun. Here are some pictures of their trip -

A lighthouse on the north shore of Lake Superior - they look like tourists!

I love this picture - I think it completely sums up their personalities. They just got on the ski lift to take them up for a ride on the Alpine Slide. John is looking up with excitement & anticipation for a new adventure. Ben has a look of worry, wondering if he really wanted to get himself into this. He was upset with John that he wouldn't immediately put down the protection bar.

While John is gone - Ben is enjoying having the computer all to himself. Monday he went to work with me - and was very patient when he got a bit bored. Today he stayed home by himself - but I came home early & we went to the movie "Up". I highly recommend it. Cute story & fun message.

2009-06-14T21:18:00.005-05:00

John & Ben are off on a short adventure to Duluth, Lake Superior & Canada with their dad. I'm completely relaxed, but perhaps too relaxed to accomplish much :)

I had this 60 year layout printed out & it looks GREAT - so much better than on my computer monitor!!!

2009-06-11T11:54:00.009-05:00

Today is the last day of school ... Ben's last day of elementary school & my last day as a parent of an elementary school student. Can you sense the struggle I'm dealing with? But... as a wonderfully fun way to send the 5th graders off - there is the annual 5th grade egg launch.

Prior to the launch... Eggward is seatbelted in & ready for launch...

And there you have it! Eggward still had the smile on his face though appeared to be nervous by the amount of perspiration on his face.

House update: While the foundation is complete this picture was taken a week ago . J & B are sitting on the new steps

Geocaching is fun!!!

And just so you can get a true perspective of life at our house...

I don't make this stuff up... I merely report it...

.And I shall introduce you to...

BULLSEYE BOY & NUN MAN!!

2009-06-10T22:34:00.004-05:00

My latest creations...

After I had completed this layout I noticed that you can see Ben down climbing on the rocks in the picture I used for the background. Love it!

I blurred the faces - didn't think that was cool to put my coworkers on my blog!

2009-06-10T14:43:00.002-05:00

The sad day finally came that I was released as Primary President. I was extremely sad for a few days - Primary was in a sense my security blanket at church (please don't psychoanalyze!), but as the news set in I felt an enormous sense of relief. I knew that many changes were going to need to occur & now I no longer needed to be the person to worry about it. I will miss the kids tremendously... but as with all things.. change is necessary. Here's a letter that Jennie E. wrote for me - is this just the sweetest little note? Put a smile on my face for sure...

How fun is this?

2009-06-05T17:54:00.002-05:00

What do you look like?

http://www.eatmyname.com

2009-05-26T21:10:00.002-05:00

I really need to update the look of this blog - I had such good intentions at the first of the year - oh well - we all know what I'd rather be doing :)

I have actually changed the title on this (for the copy to be printed) to be 'I can do it' after Jen told me that's what she always says. I just didn't make a new web copy.

The first photos of our new house

2009-05-23T15:32:00.003-05:00

Ben is standing in the foundation of our home... It will be fun to watch as it's being built. Pretty exciting for us, considering that a mere 3 months ago if you told me this was going to happen I'd have laughed at you like a crazy woman! Needless to say, we are enjoying this moment.

Exciting News...

2009-05-22T19:24:00.002-05:00

After my latest layouts...

We are buying a house - ok, a townhome, but the financing just went through & so it's good to go. It's currently a hole in the ground, but by October it will be a brand new townhome ready for us to inhabit. Reasons we're excited... John: my own bedroom Ben: everything ... space, new, i can paint my walls! Mom: kitchen, space.... lots of space... more space... my own bathroom... big kitchen... garage door opener... did I mention the kitchen & the frig ... oh & more space! Stay tuned.... pictures to come.

Mom's Day

2009-05-08T21:43:00.006-05:00

Last week a new stake was formed in Minnesota - the St. Cloud Minnesota stake. While it's exciting to watch the church grow it was a funny week for our ward. They used our building for all the goings on associated with the new stake & so our ward was kicked out for the day :) We met with another ward. It was nice to only be 5 minutes from this building as it usually takes us 15 min to get to our regular building (wow! that still sounds so much easier than if I lived in ... oh I don't know. Africa!) Anyway... our Primary is much larger than the ward we were 'visiting' & they were NOT EXCITED about us joining them. I even offered to do everything - 2 Sharing times. ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! They insisted we all meet separately. Well - I'm not big into having Jr. & Sr. together so I opted out for fun... I loves having me some fun in Primary! We made our Mom's Day gifts. I love the internet - in my world all good ideas come from the internet. I'm just good at taking someone else's idea & implementing it. So my idea came from...

http://sofiasprimaryideas.blogspot.com/search/label/Mother%27s%20Day

So, with the help of my handy dandy printer (see below) I made the following

label - on the outside of the ziploc bag

Poem that described the game to play with M & M's

Each child wrote a letter (drew pictures, scribbled) for their mom. Bag of M & M's & popcorn and papers went into the zip loc bag with the cutesy label on the front. I thought it turned out cute. Kids thought it was fun!

2009-05-08T21:28:00.002-05:00

Things I'm lovin' this week ----

1) Chicken Salad sandwich from Panera (it was super yummy but also helped that my boss paid ) :)

2) Kemps Frozen Yogurt Parfaits - individual sized. No over-indulging!

3) John doing disco moves to Bee Gees.

4) Quiet Friday nights at home - John on 1 computer, Mom on 1 computer, Ben lost in a new book!

5) Spring has sprung!

6) Thin crust Hawaiian pizza

7) My Canon printer - it makes my Primary calling a thousand times easier :)

8) Free digital scrapping supplies won from silly trivia competitions

2009-04-29T21:24:00.005-05:00

this is a test... jodi's blinkie service :)

------------------------------------------------------->

I'll throw in some layouts too...

2009-04-19T23:08:00.000-05:00

2009-04-17T22:48:00.001-05:00

What would I do if I didn't have scrapping to entertain me?

2009-04-15T21:00:00.002-05:00

We were planning on going to the Tax Day Tea Party at the State Capital, but I haven't been feeling very well & John needed to go to Young Mens (Siamese volleyball was on the agenda :) ) , but we're all about telling the government to quit spending $$.

2009-04-12T20:52:00.001-05:00

Just a quick page I did this weekend...

Target Coupon

2009-04-10T09:37:00.001-05:00

I have a coupon - if anyone wants it. 10% off Infant or toddlers swimwear - expires 5/31. If anyone wants it, let me know. I've obviously outgrown infant/toddler. 10% isn't much... but my philosophy is anything helps!

Bothering Children...

2009-04-08T15:48:00.004-05:00

Is that anyone else's favorite pasttime? Is this telling me I need to get a life? So yesterday, John was telling me about one of his teachers & he thinks she must have voted for Obama. I inquired as to why & it took awhile, but he finally reluctantly told me. Apparently they have been studying about Biomes (whatever!) and began talking about drilling for oil in Alaska. This would be a BAD thing. Why, you ask? Because it would most certainly destroy the flowers & special grass that only can grow in Alaska. I'm sure John could explain this better, but after I stopped laughing so hard I then enquired if that perhaps I was the one lacking common sense & the rest of the world had it! What is common sense? Is saving the grass & flowers in Alaska more important than heating my house? I'm so confused!!! So... if anyone has ideas on what exactly is common sense & who has it, please let me know.

As for the bothering children thing, I just asked him about it & I could hear his eyes rolling around while we were on the phone. It's an amazing thing to "hear" someone's eyes rolling around. :)

2009-04-05T19:23:00.003-05:00

So, as a follow up to the little DI fiasco - everytime we're at the school for an event I always ask Ben to please point out this 'coach' to me. I'm just beyond curious as to what she looks like. Well, she wasn't at the Family Fun Night. Next up was the Arts & Academic Expo - as Ben & I were walking around he casually mentioned to me to remind him to tell me something when we got outside. Ben had done a puzzle & then framed it for the Arts & Academic Expo. We still haven't hung it on our wall, but he did a great job. So, back to the night... we left & as I was starting the car I asked Ben what he wanted to tell me.

Ben: She was there.
Me: Who was there?
Ben: You know...
Me: She was there & you didn't point her out to me?
Ben: I didn't want you to yell at her?
Me: Yell? I just wanted to see what this disappointing coach looked like & glare at her.
Ben: There... there she is.
Me: Where
Ben: Drive fast - she's getting in the car over there.

So... I still didn't see her, but now I know what to look for... beware Mrs. Payer! I really want to give you a mean look!!!

2009-03-29T20:22:00.005-05:00

I'm so far behind... My blog still looks like February... I haven't done much scrapping... I've been working a lot... taking care of some Primary stuff... and well, just kind of running under the radar lately.

I have been participating at weekly challenges at one of my favorite digi sites - jenwilsondesigns.com... so these are my latest layouts from there...

John had his Lego Robotics competition. Their team didn't do well overall, but they placed second for their Programming. I was proud of them for that accomplishment.

Ben has had a disappointing month. He had been working on a Destination Imagination team & had put quite a bit of energy into it. I had taken some time off work to help when one of the coaches had been out of town, and while they were a bit behind a little direction would have done wonders for the team. The next week when the coach was back in town she decided to cancel their participation in the competition. The kids had no input into the decision. I was so frustrated & never really got a decent answer from her. I spoke to the teacher who oversaw the whole program, but nothing happened. Ben was so disappointed, and who could blame him.

Other than that, we just keep moving along.

2009-03-19T16:51:00.004-05:00

Have you ever had a moment when you heard something & wham, bam you went back in time to those fun (or some sad) moments. Mine was as I was taking the elevator in the parking ramp down to the street this morning. The elevator music sounded familiar - & so I reached way back into the cobwebs of my mind... & I was immediately back to 1980.

http://www.last.fm/music/Stevie+Wonder/_/Knocks+Me+Off+My+Feet

What a fun summer that was... I then googled an old friend from that summer. Don't you just love google?

So... if anyone is in Salt Lake & wants to check out Diva's Cupcakes & Coffee for me & have a taste of what is supposed to be spectacular cupcakes, say hi to the owner for me... Tell him Lynne thinks of him often & hopes he's having a great life!

Ok - you don't need to remind me that the music I used to listen is now being played as elevator music! I get it! I'm getting old !! :)

2009-03-04T21:56:00.000-06:00

Sad day!

2009-03-04T16:24:00.001-06:00

I learned a lesson today - it's best to come to work on time.

Target opened 2 new stores today in Hawaii. This morning as people walked into the different buildings they were handing out little stuffed Bullseye dogs in their red Hawaiian apparel. To my dismay, I missed the handout & so now am feeling a little left out without my cute little Hawaiian dog that everyone has displayed in their cubies :( So sad!

Pay It Forward

2009-03-04T10:51:00.001-06:00

The first five people to leave a comment on this blog will receive something made by me. However there are some limitations.

1. I make no guarantee that you will like what I make.
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It will be done this year.
4. You have no clue what it is going to be, poetry, clothes, paper goods, or a little invention of my own. I may bake something and mail it you . Who knows? Not you that's for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

Here's the catch, if you choose to do this. You must post this on your blog and be ready to make something for five people too. This will be fun! When you receive the fabulous item I make you, you must post a picture of it on your blog.

2009-02-28T22:59:00.002-06:00

Every now & then I just need to do something that is not boy! I love green & pink - so I hope Tessa likes this quick little layout I did for her.

Today we held one of our Primary quarterly activities. Thank goodness it's over & it seemed to turn out ok. We had made muslin dolls (ok - I didn't make any dolls, but mom did. I know she didn't enjoy it so we're going to chock it up to yet another one of her amazing good deeds). At the activity we decorated the dolls to resemble a person in each child's family - someone that has helped to make their family eternal. We had pioneers, grandparents & lots of Sunbeams did their own parents :) At the primary program in October each child will give a talk & tell a story about the person that their doll resembles. I've been a little nervous about it all - it seems a little overzealous to me, but I do have to admit, the dolls turned out very cute. I guess I can't actually call it a "Primary" activity as most parents did stay to help their kids.

Well, I'm just here waiting for the laundry to get done so I can go to bed - and I'm falling asleep. Good night blog!

2009-02-26T22:29:00.003-06:00

I haven't scrapped in days (I know that sounds silly!) but all my digi supplies that were completely organized on my EHD - somehow got untagged, meaning I couldn't find anything. In my few extra moments I've started to go back & get organized, but tonight as the wind is blowing and the snow is flying & parent teacher conferences were cancelled due to the weather I decided I just needed to go for it.

Tomorrow will be there to continue preparing for the Primary activity on Saturday and finishing my sharing time for Sunday.

John is off on a field trip tomorrow - tubing 1/2 the day & going to a nature center at the park the other half. I think he'll be glad for all this fresh new snow. He went to the temple on Wednesday night with the YM/YW & had a good time. His current enjoyment is his Technology Ed class this semester. They've been building metal cars (and this is fun?) and he's having the time of his life.

I've been helping with Ben's Destination Imagination team this week while one of the leaders is on vacation. Kids can be so frustrating, but after helping Ben with some stuff tonight I think he'll go tomorrow with a new attitude. It was pretty interesting to watch kids complain & whine & then when I showed Ben how to give everyone something to do so they would feel included & part of it they all had a great time. Ben is so serious about it & the rest of them all goof off, so he's having to really step up and be a leader.

Latest layouts...

2009-02-19T17:37:00.003-06:00

I've just been feeling so ugh... so this is my little escape from the noisiness of the rest of my life. :)

These are all for various different challenges...

We are officially done with the digi scrapping race. While it was fun & I did get a ton of 'stuff' I was ready for it to be over.

Other news, I took John to the eye dr. today (he failed the eye exam at school) & he is going to be the proud recipient of new contact lenses. We debated between glasses & contacts, but I just felt like contacts would be easier for him. Ok... of to play a quick game of Mario Kart with Ben before Survivor starts.

It's Valentines Day

2009-02-14T15:45:00.007-06:00

And my ever so little contribution to the day of love is a layout for the loves of my life!

You're thinking what a slacker mom huh? No, I also bought each child a heart shaped box of Reese's minatures. Ok, so what if Ben was with me & picked them out. I didn't let them have them until the big day! Beyond that, yes... I got cutesy little valentines at work but John is beyond Valentines (thank goodness!) He did attend the Activity Night at school last night but that basically entailed hanging out with the boys playing Rock Band & drinking pop. Ben chose not to take anything to school - even though I was quite insistent he should. Rather they could take games to school & he was excited to take this finger football game we have. Apparently it was the big winner of all games . Today he was invited to hang out with his church buddy Joey. They are the only 2 boys amongst a class of girls & Joey goes to a different school so that was his fun time today. All in all I didn't contribute to the economy on this Valentines Day.

Now... if you're wondering why I even confess to my pathetic attempts at celebrating a holiday just meander on over to Jodi's blog & you'll see that I'm nowhere close to her level of motherhood. Isn't it a beautiful thing that we are all so unique & different . I think I better get a heads up on St. Patricks Day so I can compete a bit better!

Have a happy day of love!

2009-02-09T21:35:00.002-06:00

This was a challenge where I had to ask a question - it couldn't be answered. Since this is a question I ask daily I decided to use it.

This was using some supplies I actually won (YEA!) at Jen Wilson Designs. She has weekly chats as she releases new stuff & has silly trivia. I won 4 new paper & element packs (worth $13) just by answering (very quickly) in the show Brady Bunch how many boys were in the house. The things we do for free stuff ! :)

John's writing

2009-02-09T15:48:00.002-06:00

John turning in his homework is a constant struggle so there have been times after he does something we just e-mail it to the teacher. Love those teachers who work with us :) Anyway, last night I went to e-mail something he had written & didn't take the time to read it so I sneakily sent it to myself at work so I could see what he had written. I love to read his writing - it's so descriptive. I thought I would share. He had to teach someone something & write about it...

"I taught my brother Ben to count in French because I am learning foreign languages and this is a good use for that knowledge. I used my Brother Ben for my unfortunate test subject due to his proximity and the fact that he didn't have anything else to do.

As I taught him the first three letters I had the impression that he thought everything he said had to be said in a French accent leading to laughable. After getting him to sound audible I taught him four, five and six (My personal favorite French numbers) he seemed to have trouble with these however we blazed through this section. As I taught him the last numbers I realized that whenever I quizzed him the following conversation ensued: "What is... 9," I would ask. "Un, Deux, Trois, Quatre, Cinq, Six, Sept," he would say under his breath, "Sept, the answer is Sept." This made me wonder whether I was actually much of teacher material. After teaching Ben these numbers he forced me to count from one to thirty-one in French which I pleasantly was able to accomplish."

*Note, all punctuation is exact.

Just a few new layouts - for challenges

2009-02-06T20:58:00.001-06:00

2009-01-31T19:24:00.003-06:00

So the past couple of weeks I've been feeling quite overwhelmed. It just felt like there was so much to do & so I kinda froze & didn't get anything done. Between the layoffs at Target, tons of stuff needing done for Primary & just general kid stuff it was becoming too much. Today I woke up & made a llloooonnnnggg list of all that I needed to do today. I just looked & only crossed off 3 items. My house is still a mess, but I finally figured out a simpler birthday gift for Primary. The original plan had been overwhelming & I needed to simplify. I'm feeling much better tonight even though my list is still long. After getting an e-mail from Jodi of what her kids liked last year (a candy bar from the Bishop) I asked J & B which they preferred. My time-consuming (overwhelming) idea or a candy bar. I'm sure it's no surprise what the answer was & so I decided that even if parents complained (which they seem to do a lot) that was going to be my plan. The primary has a ton of candy left over from some previous activities so I decided rather than a full candy bar they could get a treat bag w/ multiple mini candy bars from the Bishop. Today I made the treat toppers & the certificates to hand out to the kids & immediately I feel better, even though the laundry isn't done & the bathroom still needs cleaned.

These are the treat toppers: These are the certificates.

This is a layout I did of all Ben's school pictures through elementary school - I'm just going to use the same layout but put in John's pictures for his layout. Easy - peasy - that's what I love about digital.

Lest anyone think I spent the entire day on the birthday stuff - I did take the boys sledding for a couple of hours. We had a heat wave today - I'm not sure how warm, but I didn't wear a coat when running errands.

Just a quick update...

2009-01-27T23:27:00.005-06:00

it's been a long day. I got to work a little late & could sense right away something was different. While I had apparently been going along in my own little lala land - layoffs came to Target. While, thankfully, I wasn't affected there were 11 members of the technical team that I work with that were let go. Needless to say, it was not a pleasant day.

The digi scrapping race continues. I've already received some fun prizes for participating. It's been quite fun. I'm also participating in some challenges at another site I enjoy.

I was given a specific kit for this challenge & had to use every item. I did a little recoloring (love Photoshop) & think it turned out ok.

This was a layout I made where I had to scrap an "addiction"

This layout was for the race, but had some pretty simple requirements - I had to "scraplift" a layout from someones' gallery that I admire

This layout was merely for fun - trying to catch up on personal layouts. I've noticed I've done alot of layouts for Ben. I always thought the first child had more pictures, but apparently in our house Ben likes to pose for the camera :)

This was a fun layout - it was part of a "Speed Scrap". Every 10 minutes you get additional instructions for an hour & then you have a short amount of time to complete. It was the first one I had done & as simple & quick as this was I really like it.

Latest layouts

2009-01-21T22:51:00.005-06:00

I thought I'd share my latest layouts ...

This layout was done for a challenge that required a quote or phrase that was uplifting or changed our live somehow & journaling about that - in addition it had to have at least 3 "artsy" parts to it. I'm not artsy, but I liked the end layout - different for me.

This challenge required us to use at least 3 different frames & no pictures. Journaling was optional. Since I love fonts - I went for that angle. I love the colors on this one.

This one is just plain fun! I loved this picture of Paige on Jen's blog so I stole it. This challenge was a 'road block'. Similar to the race it was a challenge only 1 team member had to complete. I did it - the challenge was to take a layout that our team member had done. It then had to be rotated horizontally or vertically & then rotate it 45 degrees. When I start a layout I'm never sure how it's going to go - I'm not a planner, but I love the colors. Of course, the picture is the star...

Other news, we've had a very busy January. It's actually been busier than December. Last night I took Ben to the middle school for the instrument trial. Kids who are interested in Band or Orchestra can come & try the different instruments to see what they like. Ben was initially interested in a trumpet, but after trying everything he ended up with choosing the trombone. It really seemed to be easier for him & he is beyond EXCITED! First thing he said to me this morning was he couldn't wait until 6th grade. I wonder if he'll be as excited when he has to practice every night :)

John registered for 8th grade & he is super excited for his chosen electives. He chose French, Astronomy (school has an observatory & telescope - very cool!), Energy & Power Tech Ed & Study Hall. I convinced him Study Hall would be good to ease the pressure of homework. Plus to make things scary - he will get high school credit for the French class. Ben in middle school - John working on high school credit! Where has my life & the time gone?

Stick Figure Self Portrait

2009-01-19T22:40:00.003-06:00

Craziness... I was challenged to draw a stick figure self portrait. Since I am not an artist it is a pretty pathetic attempt ... but here are my 2 options.

So ... anyone else want to give it a shot? I'd love to see the results.

Bumper Sticker

2009-01-14T22:47:00.001-06:00

I saw this tonight as I was driving home. It made me laugh - probably cuz it's true!

"Giving the government money & power is like giving whiskey & car keys to a teenage boy"

Challenge 2

2009-01-09T14:23:00.002-06:00

This challenge was different in that both partners had to work on 1 layout. Now, initially I panicked. How on earth were we going to do this? Amazingly, it was done & posted before I even had a chance to think about it. I had these pictures of John & Ben (which I had to bribe them to let me use!). I added the paper & journaling - sent it off to my partner. She added the title & elements & it was done. I've been sitting here not feeling like I'm in a race since we got done so quickly. I was pleased with how it turned out.

Since I've been waiting for the next challenge I finally decided to just go do a layout on my own. I've challenged myself to complete 200 layouts this year & must keep moving. I did this layout & while it's simple I loved how it turned out.

In other happenings, John is now in a Lego Robotics class after school - it's a pretty cool opportunity. Ben has started on a Destination Imagination team after school & that will be fun for him. They both have the competitions in March & I should probably make sure they're not on the same date. That might turn out to be a stressful day, since I can't imagine the schools they are at would be close to each other.

Bragging on Stacey

2009-01-08T13:37:00.001-06:00

So, if you haven't been to Stacey's blog - make sure you check out her new creative outlet. She's done a super job & is having a blast with digi scrapping

http://www.staceontaggart.blogspot.com/

Way to go Stacey -

ADSR4

2009-01-06T23:49:00.004-06:00

The question has been raised - what is this race? Well... we know I've gotten a tad bit consumed with digi scrapping & this is a race for digital scrappers that is based on the real Amazing Race. There are 230 (can you imagine?) teams of 2 & each week we have 2 challenges to complete. One challenge is issued on Sunday & the 2nd on Tuesday & both challenges have to be completed by the following Sunday. If both challenges are correctly completed by both team members you receive a prize :) and move on to the next challenge. What I like is that the layouts are not 'judged' per se, you just have to meet the requirements given. The challenges are given by different online digi scrapping stores or designers. So far we've had 2 challenges. The first one was to 'tear' a photo into 3 or more pieces & include journaling. That layout is below. The next challenge is for both my partner & I to collaborate & make a single layout. I have done the journaling, papers & pictures & have sent it to her to work on the remaining requirements. It's also a fun way to meet new people - after all my partner is Annette in Nebraska who I happened upon on a message board.

Other news - sometimes I'm amazed & tonight was one of those nights. Generally John walks around pretty uninterested in life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness. Ok - just life & school, but yesterday when I called him after he got home he was quite excited. Here was the conversation

John: Mom - the scientist roundtable is tomorrow night & I really want to go.
Mom: Ok -
John: It's the director of the Fusion Technological Institute
Mom: The what?
John: The DIRECTOR of the FUSION TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE
Mom: (thinking to herself - this must be important & it's refreshing for him to be so excited & btw, what's a fusion technological institute?) Ok, I think we can work it out & go. (still thinking - what happened to this kid?)

Fast forward to Tuesday afternoon & my daily conversation with John when he gets home from school
Mom: So did you still want to go tonight?
John: Go where?
Mom: That scientist roundtable thing
John: What?
Mom: You know that thing you were all excited about yesterday.
John (thinking)...: Oh yeah that... Yes, I really want to go.

Driving to the Scientist Roundtable (Topic of the night - Where will we find energy for the 21st century?)
John: Do you know the difference between fusion & fission?
Mom: Huh?
John: (looking at his mom like how on earth did she make it to adulthood with so little knowledge) Fusion & Fission?
Mom: No - what is the difference?
John: Starts to explain the whole difference in additional to going into great detail about why one is better than the other one & we really need Helium3 & did you know that the best place to get Helium3 is on the moon?
Mom: Uh, no! Where do you learn this stuff?
John: Uh, the Science Channel!

At the Scientist Roundtable
Director of Fusion Technological Institute: starts talking about Protons, neutrons, helium 3 & helium 4 & radioactivity & the moon & basically lots that John had explained to us.
Mom (looking at Ben) : I think this is the stuff John was explaining to us.
We both smiled & quietly pretended we knew what was going on.

After the Scientist Roundtable
John: That was so great & extremely interesting
Mom: Yes, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
John: You know I learned all about De.???? I didn't know about those before.
Mom (just nodding like she is as smart as her son)

Actually I was quite proud of John. After the lecture they had a Roundtable conversation for just the kids where they could ask questions. I love that John has no fear of asking all the questions he has & even went up & talked to the 'Director' after. He was so in his element. I asked him how many questions he asked - "I asked the most of anyone. I mean some other people had really good questions too, but I did ask the most."

While most kids went for the extra credit science points and that will be helpful - it didn't even matter to John.

And so the race begins...

2009-01-04T18:51:00.002-06:00

Here's my layout for Challenge #1 - we had to 'tear' a photo. At first I was a bit intimidated by having to learn a new technique, but I'm pleased with the final result.

In other news, it was the first Sunday of the new year. New Sunbeams, new Primary classes. It probably wasn't the smoothest Sunday, but it went ok. The new Sunbeams were beyond excited to join the big kids and while I pride myself on knowing every kid & something about them, I have been a tad bit apprehensive about the Wharton twins who are now in Sunbeams. They are identical twin girls & while I've been told there are differences I'm just going to have to have someone tell me when they are both right in front of me. It will all work out. Off to check on boys & homework...

2009-01-03T23:31:00.002-06:00

Just a few of my latest layouts before the Amazing Digi Scrapping Race begins. I've started to scan in some of our older pictures, prior to having a digital camera & try to get them all organized.

Today is a rant...

2008-12-30T16:41:00.004-06:00

It's true I probably watch too much news & am addicted to Fox News. (As a side note, Ben can tell you the primetime lineup on Fox News better than Disney or Nick & has been a tad bit worried about Glen Beck coming to Fox from CNN - how will Grandpa handle not having Glen Beck to watch? - Scary I know!) So anyway, last night I watched a couple of news programs & I've decided the world is a confused mess. I know this isn't a news flash to the majority of you, but sometimes one just has to step back & roll their eyes at people.

First, we have Caroline Kennedy wanting to be a Senator. As I watched people defending her & stating that all her philanthropic activities was experience enough - I just wanted Caroline to be able to answer a question in a complete sentence in her interviews she had over the weekend. Now what is confusing to me, is these people defending her are no doubt the same people that criticized Sarah Palin for her lack of experience in the political realm. So, governor of a state vs. philanthropic actitivies & 'you know' a zillion times... am I the only one seeing the problem here?

Then we move on to Pres. Bush - all the Democrats want to know why he isn't getting involved in the MidEast crisis. Hmmm, are these the same people that are frustrated he went into Iraq? I'm sure that if he were involved they would say... "why is he involved?" I'm telling you, you just can't win with these people.

Third, we got to see President elect Obama with his shirt off. Now, one commentator said that was to make him 'real' to us. Please - I don't need the President of the United States to walk around undressed - I prefer seeing him in a position of respect. So, my observation is that Clinton with his pants off & Obama with his shirt off are what the people want, but yet George Bush, who has remained fully clothed, apparently isn't real! Once again, it's a lose, lose situation.

Things that make you go hmmmm....

Perhaps tonight I better stick with HGTV (Home & Garden TV for Mike who needs help with acronyms :) )

Later...

2008-12-27T23:25:00.001-06:00

My snowman's head has been cut off - but I'll have to wait & fix him tomorrow...

Good night snowman!

2008-12-22T21:57:00.003-06:00

John & Ben are now in Indiana - it seems so quiet. Oh... it is quiet! Yesterday I took them down to Madison, WI to meet Brad. Saturday a pretty big snowstorm went through & the wind chill has been down around -20 to -30 degrees. Yesterday we left home around 10 am & before we had even left the Twin Cities metro area we had seen 2 accidents, 7 cars off the road & had been almost hit twice - one car had run a red light & another car swerved into my lane while the driver was texting (I'm sure that's what he was doing!) By this point I was wondering if we were supposed to be getting some sort of message that we shouldn't be doing this. Once we got into Wisconsin it was fine. There were some slick roads, but all was well. I made it home last night around 10:30, with J & B making it back to Indiana by 11:30. Long, long day for all of us. Poor John has a cold & was just plain miserable yesterday. The big winner was one of Ben's Christmas presents that he got early - a personal DVD player. I highly recommend this for entertainment on a drive. Movie of choice - Unaccompanied Minors. Chuckles all around while watching.

2008-12-20T09:16:00.003-06:00

Today is our get ready for Christmas travel day... I'm taking John & Ben to Madison, WI where we will meet Brad & he'll take them to Indiana for Christmas. List of things to do...

Car tuned up
Presents wrapped
Boys electronics (car entertainment) ready
Laundry, laundry & more laundry
Schedule for J's homework over the break (much to his dismay!)

Ok, I think I can handle this -

I love this layout - it was all the pictures that J & B took on Christmas Eve at Larry & Lynae's house.

Cutie patootie little Paige...proud to be 2

Yes - a bit off on the seasons, but had a template I wanted to use & delete (love cleaning out the EHD!)

**All credits for layouts can be found by clicking on my digi layouts link

2008-12-14T17:51:00.000-06:00

New pages - I'm really starting to get quick doing these. So, here is my thought... I much prefer scrapping to cleaning. I'm thinking how nice it would be to 'scrap for hire' & make enough to hire a housecleaner. Silly? I dunno - it keeps the wheels turning ...

2008-12-11T23:49:00.000-06:00

I know my fans are just dying to see my latest scrapbook pages - ok, maybe not, but I like to look at them :) :) :) I've been home from work for a few days - feeling completely rotten. I take cold medicine to help my nose stop running, which then conks me out. As soon as I raise my head up out comes the ... gunk. As gross as this is it's quite creative - John calls me the 'mucus fountain'. I know... tmi!

Other news - it's official. I am part of Team 56 for the upcoming Amazing Digi Scrapping Race 4. What is this you ask? While I'll always love the Amazing Race first this will be my feeble attempt to fill the hours while I wait for the next season with Phil. Basically we race around the digi scrapping world making layouts & earning prizes. Yep, maybe not India or Moscow but Scrap Orchard here I come ... Notice the 'blinkie' on the right. I'm starting to become a tad bit amazed by myself. There is nothing a person can't learn to do with a little help from the world wide web. How did we ever survive without it?

So... did anyone else taste the yummy holiday milk we've become so enamored with at our house? I'm waiting for reviews from others..

These pictures are scanned in so they don't look as good - but the memory is captured, which is the whole point.

2008-12-07T15:03:00.000-06:00

2008-12-04T20:15:00.001-06:00

One of the mysteries of my life - everytime John & Ben are watching a DVD they whoop & holler at the FBI anti-piracy warning. It's almost more exciting than the movie itself. $250,000 fine & 5 years in federal prison is apparently quite the entertainment. Go figure... And I buy these kids toys why??? Yesterday Ben entertained himself with a ball of yarn. He tied it around his waist & then when I wanted him to do something I would pull on it. Odd to say the least...

2008-12-02T14:59:00.000-06:00

I often wonder why I 'suggest' more difficult science projects. Next year (I tell myself this every year) we are going to start early & simple. 7th grade science project - can a fuel cell using everyday materials (I might add - some turned out not to be everyday!) be as efficient as a standard combustion engine? That's a regular engine in your car for people like me who aren't quite as brilliant as John. It was quite interesting. I've learned what a voltmeter is - easily purchased at a hardware store. Now the stickler - platinum wire. We all know the expense & beauty of platinum rings. Yep - I spent an afternoon driving around looking for platinum wire - this is not an everyday item! We ended up finally ordering it on the internet - $13 for a foot of wire. I keep reminding John that I am investing in my future. He must get a good job & support his mother in her old age - preferably in a large mansion :)

Here is John's fuel cell - but before you think this silly contraption doesn't do anything stay with me for the fascinating part. (No - the Crest provides no meaningful contribution other than holding our battery up)

It's very difficult to see in this picture, but off the coil of 'very expensive' platinum wire you can see the massive amounts of bubbles being formed. The platinum wire was separating the hydrogen & oxygen in the water & there were 2 coils. I've shown the coil with more bubbles coming off of it. The other coil had less. We weren't sure which one was the hydrogen & which was the oxygen. It was kinda cool to watch.

When you remove the power source the hydrogen & oxygen recombine & that provides the power - John can obviously explain this MUCH better than I.
John has also found a new love... anyone who lives next to a Target or SuperTarget - run, don't walk to pick some of this most yummy treat up.

Candy Cane flavored milk - it's to die for!!!

2008-11-19T22:01:00.000-06:00

Ok - I've been busy - but completely out of control with this digi scrapping stuff. I really need to get back to doing other stuff - like... I dunno - i'll just keep scrapping. It makes me happy...

Completely random - obviously no chronological order whatsover -

An update...

2008-10-22T22:38:00.000-05:00

I've been busy neglecting many areas of my life, but I've gotten some scrapping done which has been fun. Here are some pics of our life lately - along with some of my favorite layouts.

Ben ran for Student Council & I think his posters & flyers looked pretty good. He didn't win, but generally half of the class runs & only 2 of the 15 are voted in. He handled the loss VERY well, really better than me.

We had a Primary Olympics for a Primary Activity. Here's Ben carrying the flag out to start the parade around the church before we started. Fun was had by all. This Sunday is our Sacrament Mtg program. I am accompanying the primary on the last song with my flute. I've been practicing like a crazy person... so afraid to really blow it.

Here's John back from his first backpacking trip. I forgot to take my camera to the church to take a picture of all the boys before they left. It was a short trip, but he had lots of fun, at least he smelled like he had fun.

I messed up on the date of this one - it's really 1994. But I've corrected the 'real' copy :) My goal for this layout was learning how to 'ink' the edges of paper. I think I 'inked' these papers a minimum of 6 times with different methods. Ah... love the learning curve. But that also shows the beauty of digi scrapping. Don't like it - just use that magic undo button.

I decided to apply to be on a Creative Team for an online digi scrapping store. I had a specific kit to make layouts from & this one of Andrew & the pumpkin was one. I 'stole' the pics off of Stacey's blog. Thanks Stacey - I've gotten lots of positive comments about it.

Here's my second layout from the same kit. I stole these pics & the journaling off of Jen's blog. Apparently no one's pictures are safe. Nahhh... you can let me know if you don't want me to use any of your oh so cute kiddos.

This is my current favorite layout. It was for a 'typography' challenge. This was a lot of fun & Ben really liked how it turned out.

Blog changes...

2008-10-10T23:50:00.001-05:00

This is making me crazy!! Wow! It took me forever to get this fixed. Sometimes learning is painful! I'm sure I'll remember how to do this the next time I go to make color changes. Good night blog... I'm very tired.

Too busy scrappin'

2008-10-09T21:21:00.000-05:00

It's not like I've forgotten my blog or had anything to say. It's just that I've been in an overwhelmed state. So, I've thrown myself into organizing my digi scrapping supplies (brainless activity). Then I've been scrapping - relaxing activity.

Amongst it all is work & 7th grade Algebra & Primary & 7th grade Algebra & running for Student Council in 5th grade & 7th grade Algebra. You get the picture!

I shall post some of my latest pages & then come back this weekend & spend some quality time updating my blog & making it look pretty & fall like :)

Update

2008-08-10T21:04:00.001-05:00

I suppose with no boys around it doesn't feel like much is going on. I'm completely caught up on the news & current on all the HGTV shows :) I've done some reading & some scrapping and some working late but all in all I've just enjoyed the quiet & calm. I've felt guilty for my 'recluse' status but I think I really needed to just 'be'. In my defense, I did actually go to a coworkers b'day party on Friday night - of course, I only stayed for 40 minutes, but hey I went! I had made her a scrapbook of her trip to Alaska last summer to visit her kids.

Today in Primary I started looking at the list of kids turning 8 next year & these are all the kids who were born shortly after we moved into the ward. This is the longest I've stayed in one place in a long, long time. I'm starting to feel ready for a new adventure, but John & Ben really like their schools & since nothing pressing is calling me I guess we'll continue to stay here for awhile.

J & B are now in Indiana with their dad. They enjoyed their Colorado time & from all accounts appeared to have a great time. I, of course, am disappointed that a camera wasn't capturing all their adventures, but once they get home & I try (hey, they're boys!) to find out the details I'll try to get it all down. Huge thanks to Gary & Marti for trudging (once again) over to the Denver airport to drop them off. It's official that I am so indebted to Gary I will never be able to recover from his help :)

I'm in the midst of the advanced digi scrapping class & have been enjoying it. I've discovered that my scrapping look is much different than the teacher - more simple & clean, but I've learned some great techniques & have enjoyed playing in Photoshop. I tried to do my own background here on my blog & finally realized it was going to be a work in progress. It's always good to learn new things, but learning tends to take time. :)

So... back to watching the Olympics I go. But in farewell, my latest scrapping endeavors.

I love these photos.

I really like how this one turned out.

I suppose I should write about the reunion...

2008-07-24T21:38:00.000-05:00

But I've been enjoying my 'free time' (i.e. no boys around) to organize digi supplies, catch up on freebies, and work on layouts. I need to get a life I suppose...

Anyway, this is a test to see if I upload a different type of saved layout allows me to click on the image & get a super size pic. Yes, it's a much better way of admiring my work. I told you I need to get a life. But I know that we, as women, need our recognition. Be it scrapping, baking or cooking, sewing - it's good for us to sit back & admire our hard work. So to all of us I say... sit back & give yourselves a huge pat on the back for your accomplishments for the day (even if it's just getting through another day at the dreaded workplace :) )

Just a quick layout...

2008-07-23T22:17:00.000-05:00

I did this as a template challenge ... our family reunion was so much fun & in an absolutely beautiful location. This was a great way to utilize a large # of photos at once. Usually I don't enjoy doing that, but this was fun.

More to come...

see the enlarged copy w/ credits here... mygallery

2008-06-25T21:38:00.000-05:00

latest layout ...

I promised myself that this blog would be a place for me to write - and tonight I'm a bit sad & unsure how to handle a situation. Being a primary president is hard... a couple who has been consistent & really tried to teach our most difficult class reached their breaking point on Sunday. A couple of visitors who were also completely out of control didn't help. So - a couple of parents sat in the hallway & overheard bits & pieces of the class & jumped to all sorts of conclusions about how these teachers were saying things to this class that were completely inappropriate. Why they didn't stick their heads in & offer to help I'll never know or understand. But as I just got off the phone with one of the teachers who didn't even know if it was worth coming back to church if people thought so poorly of them. Both of their grown sons have gone inactive through offensive remarks. While I hope that they wouldn't let others have this much influence on them I also see that they sit & wonder who else has talked about them & complained about them. How many others have these parents complained to? And I sit here & wonder if these young parents have any idea what they've done by they're thoughtless remarks & going behind the teachers backs to complain to the bishop. I sit here & understand the frustration of the teachers - these kids have no respect for the teachers or for others & apparently their parents don't care if they act the way they do. Whiny & difficult & completely disrespectful. Tonight my heart is sad...

2008-06-21T23:18:00.001-05:00

Just a quick layout - my 30 minute Start to Finish assignment in my digi scrapping class

credits: here

Other than that - we're just plugging along. Survived the first week of Adventures Plus (Ben) & Peak Adventures (John). Not that it was very adventurous... they don't really have any field trips or exciting stuff the first few weeks because kids are in summer school. Hello? we're only in it until July 8 & so we'd like some field trips. Oh well - they're looking forward to the adventures in Colorado.

Today was busy - we went swimming & then I had to give a talk tonight at a baptism. I think it went ok - but does one ever really know? OK... later peeps...

New Scrapbook Pages

2008-06-18T23:20:00.000-05:00

I'm now taking an intermediate digi scrapping class & loving it. Finished 2 layouts tonight. Feeling behind with Primary stuff & reunion prep stuff (putting together a Jeopardy game), cleaning my house - but we did go for a walk tonight. While it's been a rainy & miserable spring, I'm grateful it hasn't gotten terribly hot yet. Tonight we did our 'kind deed of the hour' (according to John). A guy in an electric wheelchair had gone down close to the pond & had gotten stuck in the soft dirt. Thank goodness we were out & about or who knows how long he'd been stuck there 'enjoying the view'.

So without further adieu... my creative attempts

New scrapbook pages

2008-05-21T22:42:00.000-05:00

Lots going on - lots to talk about, but I've been sick & still struggling with a miserable cough. Just wanted to post a couple of my latest digi pages. The more I do the more I'm excited about selling all my old scrapbook stuff.

Busy, busy weekend...

2008-04-28T21:50:00.000-05:00

Usually, we don't have much going on. We're just excited to kinda hang out at home, but I could tell it was time for an adventure so Saturday was busy from 8 am to 10 pm.

The boys both started swimming lessons - I'm kinda ashamed to admit they haven't had any before (well, John had some when he was much younger) but I just haven't had the $$ & even now I don't but they've got to learn to swim. So, better late than never, although they both were a tad bit embarrased being the oldest kids in their classes. Oh well...

After swimming, we grabbed a quick lunch & then off to pick up Josh & Justin. These are 2 boys in our ward that John & Ben really connect with. Their mom watches J & B often on non-school days & they really do play well together. We went down to the Mall of America for a Battle Bots competition.

We all enjoyed that, but I had promised them they could ride a few rides. The amusement park was now called Nickolodeon Universe & they had some new roller coasters & rides. John had recently been there for a "physics field trip". They had to ride a roller coaster - fill out a physics worksheet about it & then spent the rest of the day riding rides. This isn't school like I remember it. Anyway, he was getting everyone excitd about all the new rides. Poor John, he's extremely adventurous & no one would go on the most intense coaster with him, but all in all I think they had fun.

You can kind of see behind the sign where the roller coaster comes straight down - this of course after going, literally, straight up. It's still amazing that all of this is indoors, which was wonderful for Saturday as it was miserable cold, windy & snowing.

A quick treat on our way out & then we had to rush off to Josh's birthday party - another exciting event. Quite a few of the boys from the ward got together & had a video game party. 3 TV's - 2 Wii's & 1 GameCube. Lots of fun & pizza & many exhausted boys at the end of the night. We'll be ready for a nice, quiet weekend next week.

2008-04-22T20:23:00.000-05:00

Here's our latest update ... we just seem to keep busy with 'stuff'.

Ben got a new bicycle & has really been developing his riding skills. It was on sale at Target & the morning we went to get it was very cold - windy & snowy. And yes, it was just a couple of weeks ago ...

He rode it home from the store in spite of the cold wind blowing. He's preparing for the 8 mile 4th grade bike trip at the end of the school year.

John was invited to participate in school districts "Bridge to Knowledge". They have a physics section & then get to choose a couple of classes to take. John got to take a class on geocaching & then another one at the Observatory. His middle school has an observatory ( JMSObsevatory)- the largest one in Minnesota. He enjoyed both classes, but has decided he really enjoys geocaching & has asked for a handheld GPS for his birthday.

One weekend Ben decided to come up with a fun activity for both of them. He drug all the pillows & blankets into the living room & decided to go sumo wrestling. As you can see, fun was had by all (at least until they had to clean up all the blankets!)

Other news - Ben learned magic tricks one night at scouts & came home & put on a magic show for John & I.

My goal...

2008-03-31T21:56:00.001-05:00

is going to be to at least update weekly - merely for my own sake & memory if for nothing else. I have been thoroughly enjoying my online digital scrapbooking class. While it's over I've come to a decision in my scrapbooking world - I'm going digi. A friend is having a garage sale in May & I've already started to clean out stuff & get it marked. I just don't have the space to keep all the 'stuff'. Of course I will never truly get rid of all of it. I have too big of a love affair with buttons & ribbons & paper - but this whole change has resparked some enthusiasm & enjoyment for the hobby - at least for me. My 2 latest pages...

These took such a short time & it would have taken me MUCH longer to do paper scrapping. Loving it!!!

In other news... we have a pet. It's a 4th grade thing - a crayfish. Yes, we always get it at the end of their unit. Apparently ours is one of the few remaining survivors. We are doing our best to keep it alive. I find I do grow a bit attached... we've gotten our critter quite spoiled. Will only eat chicken nuggets cooked just right & loves to sun itself on a rock during the quiet of the day when we're not home. Isn't she a cutie? :)

Photograph courtesy of Ben -

Then our other project - which I dread annually. The Arts & Academic Expo. Every year I say we're not going to put it off to the last minute & every year we do. The idea is out there it's just the actual work. Ben decided to do a cross-stitch picture. We'd gotten the frame ready & knew what he was going to do, but didn't actually start until 4 pm Sunday night. I'm pleased to report this is the first year we did a manageable project & it was even completed Sunday night. He did a great job - the frame turned out cute also. He used some fabric stickers I found while cleaning out my stuff & I thought it was fun... He's extremely visual & sees things I would never see.

Till next time....

My first digital scrapbook page

2008-03-10T15:31:00.000-05:00

I'm taking an online digital scrapping class - and I've completed my first layout. Let's see how it turned out...

Ugh!!!

2008-02-20T23:33:00.000-06:00

The last few weeks have been just plain ugh! Life gets stressful & expensive & I start to not cope. Last week my 'boss' (use that word loosely) was grumpy & in a blaming mode. Then the ole 'happy meds' run out & I didn't have the $$ to get the refills. So... we've been in holding mode until payday (Friday!) & the mom can start to feeling better again. J & B are pretty good at hanging in there with me, but then yesterday I sent John to take his shower & to grab a new bar of soap from the closet. He couldn't find it & the next thing I knew I hear the shelving from the closet come crashing down. Yep - he's climbed up on it & it came out of the wall & made a terrible mess. Time for bed...

Between Primary, kids, work, small living arrangements it just starts to become overwhelming & I just have to have a meltdown of sorts - a bit of a pity party or escape from reality. Last weekend I read 2 books just to escape from having to deal with reality. The cold weather has really been getting to me this year - everyone is starting to feel a bit stir crazy - too cold for kids to play outside.

On Sunday, the sun was at least shining & it was above 0 degrees so we went out for a walk. The boys got their old snow shoes out of the garage & they had fun racing across the lawn & climbing the snow piles.

It's time to blog...

2008-01-23T23:48:00.000-06:00

I've been feeling the urge as of late - to get back into blog mode. At least to keep track of my comings & goings. Perhaps I'll feel some sense of accomplishment or at least realize what I've been doing.

So, here we are. This is our first year in Minnesota that it's been COLD!!! I'm getting a little tired of it. Now, I can handle cold - it's just that this average of -20 degrees with wind chill has been going on for over a week and for some reason, this year it's wearing on me. Give me snow... I love it, but make it warm enough for us to play in it & to let the kids go outside for recess at school. We're all tired of being cooped up.

Busy w/ lots of stuff & have pictures to share. But... it's time for bed...

Good night!