Blogging hiatus....is there a such a thing?

If so, I'm one of a few that has taken a bloggy break....judging from my long list of those that I follow....Wow! lots to read and catch up on! My email inbox too has been sadly neglected & is now asking me if I want to "compress" my files/emails to save space... I don't think that's a good thing... LOL! What can I say? Life happens? Always tons going on here! *sigh* I won't bore ya with the long list of "whys".... besides, some of the "whys" might sound pretty pathetic... quite a bit are legit though. I've missed not catching up with everyone and hope everyone is doing well and gearing up for the holidays!

This is my favorite time of year. I love the cooler weather & that I've been able to keep my windows open a time or two over the past week! The holidays are coming and that always inspires my creative side. : )

Today, I'm on a mission to rearrange my living room... exciting huh?! This is by FAR the worst space in my house to decorate AND it's the first room you see when you walk in to the house. It's smaller than any living room I've ever had and absolutely nothing seems to fit or look good. I need one of those decorating show people... guarantee they'd agree with me! LOL! I've had tiny apartments with bigger living room spaces! What makes this so difficult is not only is it a small space but the ceilings are vaulted.....BIG, HUGE VAULTED ceilings in a tiny room! You would think that a simple fix would be tall/bigger furniture... the trick is finding big things that will fit in this tiny area. *sigh* .... my dilemma for the past year now! Grrr.... If anyone knows any tricks or has any suggestion, I'd gladly welcome them! : )

Hope everyone has a terrific weekend!

~CIAO~

payback SWEET payback *sigh*

And a Happy Father's Day too! So, my sweet husband thought it would be hilarious to capture a shot of me doing some yard work.... a REALLY not-so-flattering picture which has now been mysteriously deleted from his phone FOREVER (meant to be said like "Smalls" said it in *The Sandlot*... FOR--E--VER!!! If you haven't seen the movie, you need to.). He's very fortunate to still have a working phone. I think I've mentioned that I live in the house of pranks.... right? Well, his was tough to top and then I remembered... I HAVE A BLOG! Bwahahahaha! Kevan thought it would be funny to send his pic of me to our son who sent it on to....hmmm... pretty much everyone in his address book that knows us.... which probably led to that out of control spiral of text sending. Needless to say, I'm pretty sure that there isn't a Marine in California that hasn't had a laugh at Kyle's Mom! Geez, I've wondered since if my picture has surfaced overseas yet. hmmm.... Anyhooo, I've been called the paparazzi around our place. I'm usually toting a camera or have it within arms reach.... unless of course my battery is dead. I'm not the most proficient in keeping that darn thing charged. Ok, I'm getting off base and It's time to get to the good stuff! *insert evil laugh here* I've gotten pics of Kevan making crazy faces or worse, I'll get the gestures that say "I've had enough of the camera" (though I won't post those). So without further adieu.... Happy Father's Day to the funniest, sweetest, most loving & generous man I know! All joking aside, he truly is my best friend, my soulmate and the best Dad any child could ask for. Mushy moment over... now for the picture you've all been waiting for.... and the one that will probably earn the payback that I will inevitably regret. Keep in mind... this is all in FUN.... nasty, rotten, evil FUN! Did I mention that a GREAT sense of humor is essential in this household? I guess it can't be helped in a house full of boys.... poor Kaydee & I are hugely outnumbered so we have to play dirty. heeheehee! Here goes.... Ah yes, I believe this was the runway shot featuring the new Strawberry Shortcake attire. Kevan proudly modeled Kaydee's hat after she had been asked to put it away several times.... Dontcha just wish she had put it away Kevan? Remember while I was sweltering from the heat while working in the yard as you sat snickering in the shade..... remember I said "payback"? Let the games begin.... just as soon as I hide all phones & cameras of course! ; ) I wish all of the Father's out there a wonderful, relaxing day! Oh, and if you are relaxing and you've been known to play pranks on your hard working wife... you may want to get up from watching that NASCAR race and check on her whereabouts.... she COULD be blogging.... about YOU! heeheehee!

Just a little recap of the last few....

I had a few minutes to upload some pics & thought I'd sneak in and blog a bit. : ) We've been on the go with the c-r-a-z-y list of summer activities and I've barely had time to come up for air.

We visited the Arizona Science Center over the weekend. They are featuring the Lego Castle Adventure right now and can I just say AWESOME?! This worked out perfectly as we're in virtual Scotland (Kevan's ancestry roots) this week and there were some fantastic lego castles to explore. The kids had a blast! The best part about the Science Center is that it is totally kid friendly. They can play, run, touch, smell and we don't have to worry about ANYTHING breaking! Kaydee wore a princess costume out of their dress-up bin to fully play the part! Kaydon ran around freely, astonished that he didn't hear the words "no-no" once & yes, that is a mohawk (Kevan did it, I plead the 5th)! LOL! We stayed and played until closing time. On our way out Kaydee crossed over a floor ventilation grate and the rising air lifted her dress. When I turned to see what was taking her so long to catch up I couldn't help but laugh at the way she seemed so fascinated with this final feature at the science center. Well, it really wasn't a "feature" per se but to her it was. Of course I had to get pictures. She posed, laughed & quickly gained attention as the "little Marilyn". Now she wants to know who Marilyn is. Dare I tell her? Maybe another time... perhaps when my little diva in training is about 30?! LOL! I don't think she needs anymore encouragement in that department but oh boy, what a ride I think we're in for! Eeek!

Also, yesterday we began Summer camp at Crocodile Dock VBS. Here are a few shots of Kaydee on her first day. They transformed the church auditorium into a swamp! How cool is that? The group leaders were sporting bright neon green streaks in their hair and everyone got their very own necklace & bracelet. She was a little shy at first but quickly warmed up as one of her group leaders was also a substitute teacher at her school. She also recognized some buddies from school. It also helped that she was placed in what she calls "the coolest group EVER" because they are called the opossum BLOSSOMS! There's no denying the girly-girl in her... that's for sure! When I asked her what the best part was, she was quick to reply with "no work!". *sigh* So with that comment I can only assume that we've finally reached that age where she is not so excited about school or more specifically schoolwork. Speaking of age.... my little girl turns **9** in just 14 days! I can't believe how fast time seems to be flying! Having 2 grown kids already it's hard not to reminisce about every milestone.... both then & now with each of my kiddos. So that's what has been on my plate. What's on your plate? More soon...hopefully! ; ) ~*~Ciao~*~

whew! busy, busy, busy!

Yep, I'm still here. Still running like crazy. Since summer vacation began, I've had to speed up to keep up.... if that makes ANY sense. I've been busy with kids, appointments, meetings, crafts, virtual traveling, & working on a host of other irons in my fire. I'm also in training for my online business.... not quite ready to launch just yet but coming soon. *fingers crossed*
I've tried to keep up on my blog roll. Sometimes it's easier to read and comment then to think creatively enough to post on my own. Ever feel like that? LOL! By the end of the day lately it seems I'm lucky if I feel that I have more than 2 brain cells to rub together.
I have a few layouts & collage pieces that I've worked on here and there....truly my sanity time to be able to lose myself in something creative! : P
Posting might be a little few and far between until I can get through some of my classes & some of the kids activities but we'll see. I'll be checking in at the very least. : ) Hope everyone is having a fantastic summer! ~*~Ciao~*~

Did I mention that we're in Italy this week?

Let the *Destination Imagination* begin! : )
So this week we’re in Italy. The kids are loving all of the neat things we’ve done this far. We didn’t get to really pick a place on the globe together… I picked. LOL! I went with what I knew and could teach with this short week and after our holiday camp out. I still have a small bit of the language down though it’s been awhile since I was around those that speak fluently so *check* on that. The cooking is a snap and doesn’t take much thought because it’s familiar. *check* The crafts are under construction as we speak. *check* Over all this has been not so tough given the fact that I didn’t do such a “bene” job preparing. Gratefully, my kids know no difference. ; ) So, suffice to say, I miei bambini l'amore Italia (My kids love Italy). They love the *funny* music and are always game for messy craft or cooking projects.

Some other phrases learned:

Lavarsi le mani (wash hands)
Affermativo (yes please)
grazie! (thank you)
occhi (eyes)
naso (nose)
bocca (mouth)
orecchie (ears)
spazzola i denti (brush teeth)
Che ore sono? (what time is it?)
ora di andare al letto (bedtime).... *my personal favorite* heehee!

I'm hoping to post some of our crafts and a few recipes this week but more realistically this weekend. ; ) Kaydee and I surfed for a few pics to add to our Italy blog & she loved this one... go figure! LOL!

Is she her Mother's daughter or what? ; ) Well, we're off to go make strombolli. ~*~Ciao~*~

Flea Market, Mud-Mania & a new place to travel

Well, this was one SUPER filled weekend for sure! We did make it to the Flea market at the Merchant sqare but were in & out pretty quick. On top of the fact that we got a late start Saturday (story of my life!), we had been having some on & off rains. Between the heat and the humidity, there were not nearly the amount of vendors at Merchant Square this time around. In hindsight, this was probably a good thing. We still had yet to pack up the truck and had some last minute things to grab at the store. The next flea market will be in October... wise idea! I walked out with NOTHING! Can you believe that? Kevan managed to find a few matchbox cars for Kaydon. Kaydon is a car MANIAC! I don't think that any of my boys were as obsessed with cars and trucks the way that he is. Too funny!

We ran our last few errands... QUICKLY and got the heck out of town! It was magnificent to get out of the heat for a bit. We had quite a few friends meet at the same campsight so there were tons of kids, quads, games, MUD and a never-ending amount of pranks! ; )

this little stink bug thinks he's going to sneak away on Mama's quad... Good try Kaydon ------->>>>>

<<<-------- Totally loving the freedom to just run & explore!

The kids had a blast! It was SO nice just to watch them run freely without worrying about a thing! They caught lizards, catepillars, butterflies and explored every rock, tree and hillside within 1/4 mile of our site. To say they were exhausted would be an understatement! I can't believe that they actually slept in until almost 10:30 this morning! Now, I have the unpleasant duty of unloading, unpacking & some very muddy laundry! ICK!

My little "bump on the log" ----->>>>

<<<----Yes, *girl-drama* still happens EVEN in THE WOODS!!! *sigh*

<<<--- It's pretty sad when the kids come home cleaner than the adults! We had a blast running our quads through every mud puddle at Clint's well! I had to show my sweetie who owned the woods....he can HAVE the Dunes! Bwahahaha!

I'm thinking the shoes are not going to come clean... what do you think? --->>>

Lastly, if I can ever get through the muddy laundry the kids and I are planning to start our journey to Italy tomorrow. : ) For tonight, it's a good, old fashioned American BBQ! mmmm!

Happy Memorial Day!

A big Thank You to our country's veterans!!

You are loved and appreciated for

all that you do to protect us and our fine land!

xox

I made it!!! Wahoooo!

I'm not one of those Moms that dreads the last day of school. Nope, I LOVE Summer vacations and all of the cool things that we plan & do! Aside from the obvious, slower paced mornings... hey, you'd love the break too if you had 4 kiddos that attend 4 different schools at 4 different times! I should have ZERO cellulite for as much as I run my behind off in the mornings... but sadly my morning exercise hasn't affected that one bit. As I was saying; aside from the slower paced mornings, we pack in as many fun things as we can. I love participating in the local library programs. The library is important to me. As a kid, we didn't have Internet... shocking, I know... in fact we didn't have computers. period. If we needed to write a report we usually spent at least one Saturday at the library scouring through card catalogs, reference books, taking notes & READING. I love the smell of a library. There's that certain musty book smell about a library... LOVE it! Does that make me a little nerdy? Oh well. It's important to me to share those things with my kids. Sure, it's not as convenient as point & click but I believe the experience is invaluable.

One of the things that Kaydee & I came up with for a super-cool Summer activity is traveling... very far... A LOT! Who wouldn't love to travel and especially to distant lands? Since we aren't able to vacation for long periods(for real) frequently, we've settled for.... are ya ready?...... really corny title..... keep in mind, I had the help of my 8 year old daughter to think this up. *DESTINATION IMAGINATION* Basically, we have decided to pick a place on our globe every Sunday night. Beginning Monday we will imagine traveling to our destination and throughout the week we will cook, make crafts, and learn a bit about the lingo & culture of our imaginary vacation spot. Cool huh? This is in addition to swimming lessons, art camps, youth theater, kid friendly museums & Crocodile Dock camp at our church. Sound like fun? I look forward to our Summers throughout the school year and try to think of different things to do as we go and as they get older. As we near the end of Summer, usually a few weeks before school starts, the natives become restless (like most kids usually do) and we start seeing those signs of what I call *vacation burnout*. That's when I start my "i can't wait for school to start" countdown..... just in time. ; )

To kick off our Summer we are going to load 'em up and head for the mountains for a little camping trip this weekend (for real...LOL!). We're only going for 2 days & one night. Kaydon has never been camping so this should be interesting. I figure that as long as we have his woobie and enough ice to keep his sippies cool we're good to go.

So, what kind of plans do you have for the Summer? Traveling anywhere?

Until next time... ~*~Ciao~*~

ENABLER ALERT!!!

Guess what's goin' on this Saturday??? Give up?

I'm so excited! *happy dance* I had a blast at the last flea market that they had and scored some amazing deals as mentioned here! So, what are you up to next Saturday? Mike? Lesley? Ellen? Kim? Jennifer? Are ya up for some junkin' fun? I'll even bring the sunblock! Anyone that knows me knows that I'd pretty much rather perform my own root canal before being outside in the crazy-hot -heat. Nope, I'm usually content indoors once Easter has passed. So, if I'm willing to suck it up and slather myself in sunblock then it must be worth it. Right?

Hope to see some familiar faces! : ) ~*~Ciao~*~

Mosh Posh Blog Party!

Just passin' along the invitation to all. There's a very cool blog party happening at Mosh Posh. There are some AWESOME things to win just by posting a comment to their blog too! SEE???
<<<--------
Check out some of those yummy scrap supplies!
So what are you waiting for? Head on over and post a comment on their boards! And if you haven't submitted your entry yet... the clock is ticking! Hurry, you have until 10pm tonight to submit your best work for their *June - Guest Design Team call*. If you've already submitted your entry; GOOD LUCK TO YOU!
Hope to see ya there! ~*~Ciao~*~ ; )

Mosh Posh June - Guest DT entry

Here's what I submitted to Mosh Posh. With Graduations around the corner I chose to create some layout ideas and gift ideas.

Celebrate Every Success

This layout is a celebration of Graduation milestones. It features 3 photos of my son, Kyle, during different graduation ceremonies. One from preschool (Top left), one from High School (Top right), & one from bootcamp graduation (bottom right).

The tag reads: Celebration ~ To be all that is possible we must attempt the impossible. To be all that we can be we must dream of being more.

For my wildcard I chose to stay with the Graduation/Celebration theme. I created a keepsake chipboard invitation. It's a tri-fold card that can display senior pictures or what ever pictures you choose. It also has the invite information on the inside of the front cover.

Open for display

Inside of front cover shows the "save the date" calendar & invite info

Here are the 2 keepsake photo pages. The invite cover can be folded behind so that the matted photos are all that show.

Lastly, the finished back side and cover (front of card).

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek! ; )

Happy Creating! ~*~Ciao~*~

Adventures in gardening!

Whew, I’m able to blog again. Been a little busy… ok, a lot busy. I’ve been working on the backyard. We are now the proud owners of 600 sq ft of grass and the garden is growing like crazy! Family and friends are shocked that I’ve actually been able to grow something from a seed! I’m shocked too! Kaydee is over the moon with excitement and absolutely can not wait until we can harvest some of the hard work we have put into that garden. I’m guilty of plucking a few carrot stems… ok, so I’m not the most patient person in the world! I just wanted to see if there was a wee little carrot on the end of the stem….nope; not yet. I’ve sampled a bit of the green onions (chives) and WOW are they ever flavorful! I’m so proud of our little garden! : ) Can you tell?? Everything that we planted has taken off. I’m actually debating on planting more. I have 1 & ½ empty rows left… maybe some cabbage? Jalepenos? Kevan added some chicken wire to the fence to keep Roscoe out of the garden. That cat has a fixation with the row of peas… nothing else, just the peas. He has laid across them and rearranged them so much to make a nice comfy bed for himself that I’ve had to stake/support them. Well, we fixed his wagon…. Look at him hanging out with the herbs….bwahahaha! No more garden for Roscoe… ACCESS DENIED! Oddly enough, he won’t jump the fence. I guess that’s lucky for me…. Or him, depending on how you look at it. ; )
Ok, now for the grass story. I do have some advice for anyone contemplating sod…. HAVE IT DELIVERED! And if at all possible, installed too!!! What an ordeal! On Thursday I went into Home Depot and ordered 1 pallet of grass… exactly 60 rolls/600 sq ft. A month ago I attempted to seed. I tilled the soil, added a liberal amount of seed, added enough seed starter for my area and watered. And watered. And watered. In between watering I waited. Waited & watched…. For the most remote sign of life….NOTHING. Oh wait, somewhere during week 3 we started seeing some growth. It wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for; in fact what we saw emerging was a solid blanket of little tiny weeds that were very close knit. I could tell that they were weeds by the little tiny leaves that began to sprout from the tips. For a brief moment I rationalized to myself that perhaps this was just how new grass started. After all, the spinach in our garden started out resembling grass so maybe I was wrong and there might still be hope. Please?? Not so much. *sigh* As it continued to get hotter, the last thing on my mind was starting all over again with the seed thing. The heat here could make anybody crazy and I was pretty frustrated to start. So, fast forward to Thursday… The wonderful people at home depot took pity on me and after reimbursing me for the seed they offered a fantastic deal on the sod. The catch? I had to pick it up. I arrived at Home Depot at 6am Friday morning to pick up the little pallet of sod and was informed that I was going to need a bigger truck. Hello? This is a Chevy! Doesn’t that count for something? I was disappointed at the thought of having to go back home sod-less and to pick up the trailer. So what’s a girl to do? I called my husband of course! He was finishing up at work and stated that the rear should hold at least 4000 pounds so to let them load it into the truck and not to worry. The Home Depot guys looked pretty confused but obliged….somehow I just know they had a nice long laugh about this at the end of the day. Anywhooo.. Since the pallet was 2” wider than the truck bed we had to load each roll by hand. 60 rolls at anywhere between 60 & 100 pounds per piece is no easy task. There is absolutely no way to do this gracefully. The first few rolls were easy to transfer by using just my hands. As we worked our way through the pallet, it became messier, smellier, and loaded with little bug critters. By now, I was having some pretty warped thoughts about Kevan… it was his idea that I press on and load them. Where the heck was he? He should be done with work by now! This stuff was absolutely FOUL! If you have any aversions to bugs WHAT-SO-EVER I’ve found the cure for you. You unload about 6000 pounds of sod as quickly as you can, in nearly 100 degree weather and in time it won’t matter what crawls out of it. If you’re still upright after the smell from the middle of a pallet, you’re doing good! By the time we were about 1/3 of the way into the pallet the rolls of sod became extremely heavy. Moving with my hands (and away from my body) was not an option. I reluctantly bear hugged every roll that I transferred from that pallet. To say that I looked like a swamp creature by 9am would be an understatement. Well, it all fit in the back of the truck…. One problem though…. My wheel wells were nicely resting on top of the rear tires. NICE! Home Depot guys had said all but “I told you so” but I know they wanted to say it! Enter stage left: very nice, good samaritan…. And his name was Isidro. Isidro was very concerned about the weight on the rear axle…. YA THINK? At this point I was quickly approaching the “I don’t care” attitude. I was head to toe in the most disgusting mud I’ve ever smelled in my life, way overheated, and couldn’t quite remember if I had taken my Premarin that morning…. None of which were a good combination. Well Isidro, if you’re out there in blogland; I’m SO grateful! : ) This kind man not only helped me unload half of my sod into his truck but followed me home to help me unload it AGAIN. He accepted payment for his help after some coaxing… seriously, I would have been up a creek without his generosity.
Other than gardening adventures, I’ve been working on a design team entry for a June guest designer contest over at Mosh Posh. Actually, I finished up my entry a few days ago and have finally taken pics to upload to their site. I’ll see if I can post them here too. So, that’s my recent happenings in a very large nutshell. What have you been up to? Until next time… CIAO! ; )

Happy Mother's Day!

Loved this & OH how true it is! ; ) I had a great day with my family, have a ton of new artwork from my kids to display on the pantry doors, and now ready to curl up with my sketch pad & a steaming hot cup of spice chai latte.... It doesn't get much better than this! : ) Happy Mother's Day to all of my bloggin' peeps!

TRIPLE DIGITS??

I guess I should be grateful that it didn't heat up sooner. It seems like the weather has stayed pretty nice up until last weekend.... longer into Spring than it usually does. BUT STILL.... *whining* I'm just not ready for this heat yet. Yuck... wish we still had a pool! It's funny, we had a pool in our last house and in almost 4 years I could have probably counted the times I set foot in it. Now, I don't have one and that's all I seem to be obsessing on since seeing 102 degrees on our thermometer yesterday! Thankfully the garden is FINALLY finished! We seemed to get the last of it done (fence is up too!) right before the insane temps began. Now, if we see growth, I'll be truly amazed! I've never attempted a vegetable garden and know very little about gardening....period.... especially in our climate! All I can say is YAY for the internet & YAY for my daughter and her little "green thumb"! : ) It's got to work right? Kaydee spurred my curiosity with her recent gardening project in school. She came home from school one day (just before Spring break) with her little bean sprout in a dixie cup. Remember those? So cute! Anyway, Kaydee was just beaming! I promised her that we would try to plant a garden. She really does seem to have a green thumb which is definitely a good thing considering that most plants would probably genuflect if they could as I plant them! I try.... really I DO! I've had success with my plant/shrub choices in the front yard. I've even had success with my potted plants on our front porch! Well, except for the poor lavender plant that I apparently watered just a little too much (in a non-ventilated pot). R.I.P. little lavender. Still though, feeling a little confident, I willingly embarked on our gardening adventure! Kaydee, has run to the garden every morning since we planted to check and see if anything has grown. Nothing yet... well, 1 weed, which she was sad to see me pick. I told her not to worry as I'm sure he had friends that would be surfacing soon. She's so proud of our little garden... me too! Kaydee is probably most excited about the pumpkins she planted... she insisted that we had to have our own pumpkin patch. I'm excited to see if the carrots take root.... or the squash, beans, onions, corn or peas. *fingers crossed* that we see something (other than weeds). Next step, planting some berry plants on the outside edge of the garden and learning how to compost. My Grandfather had the most beautiful flower garden (in New York city too!) and he had his very own compost bin behind the garage. I remember being so excited as a kid to run scraps of carrot peels or coffee grounds to the bin. My Grandmother could hardly finish preparing a meal before I was off and running to the bin with all of the composting scraps.

Well, LOTS to do today and should probably hop to it.... hopefully, not as hot as it was yesterday but I know that's pretty wishful thinking. *sigh* ~*~CIAO~*~

I can't believe it's that time again!

Well, almost that time! Only 2 weeks before National Scrapbook Day! Geez, It seems like it wasn't that long ago and already a year has passed. I love NSBD! It's the one guaranteed day that I can lock my self away in creative bliss for hours and hours! Just me, my coffee and my supplies.... and maybe some cinnamon bears. *stop yawning*... this ain't for everybody.... just the waaaay super-cool artistic type of folks! Jealous yet? So, May 2, 2009 I'll be locked away.... in the scraproom not the padded room and logged in to one of my many favorite *creative* places... Scrapbook.com. My dear friend, Estee Lynn is hosting the NSBD events at Sb.c this year. A FULL day of hourly contests, challenges, drawings and so much more! She also writes a weekly column there. DO go check out her blog & her column! She is super cool, super talented, super funny.... heck, the girl just needs an "S" on her shirt! I usually participate in some of the NSBD activities but for the most part I use the time to get back into "creative mode" (sometimes life has a way of interfering with that). I work on (and actually complete!) unfinished projects or sometimes get a jump start on new projects. This is an example of a NSBD challenge that I did last year.... I think it was Estee's challenge too come to think of it. It challenged "A day in the life" if I remember correctly.

Not the greatest photos of my layouts but I was in a hurry to upload before the deadline. Anyway, this year I've VOWED to finish altering some antique window panes that I started a very long time ago. Those that know me have heard me yammer on about my collage idea & those windows and *fingers crossed* I'll be finishing them May 2nd! Whew, no pressure there! I've got so much to get ready before I embark on that huge project... lots to clean up and organize before hand and with 2 short weeks..... YIKES! Have a great day! : ) ~*~CIAO~*~