Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's going to be 2008 in 1 hour! This year seems to have flown by. I changed my animated "me" to show how I would celebrate if I were going out! Looks like fun, but really I've been in my pj's since 7:30 watching movies with Zachary & Ryan and undecorating. We have big plans as a family for 2008. Lots of dreams we hope to fulfill. I'm thankful that my family has been healthy all year and only small bumps in the road. I'm thankful for the wonderful friends that I have and the new ones that I've made. My life has become richer because of them and can't wait to spend more time with them and my family in 2008! Have a great New Year's Day, we're spending it with my mother in law in the morning and maybe taking a movie in in the afternoon! Happy New Year!

A Very Merry Un-Christmas

Do you know that song from Alice in Wonderland? A Very Merry Un-Birthday to me? Just change it to an Merry Un-Christmas. I never thought that I could feel that Christmas morning could be ruined or go wrong. Until this year. Austin did something that took the wind out of my sails and had me sobbing. "Santa" brings his gifts unwrapped and clearly sets each kid's gifts in their own pile with their stocking in front of their gifts. Clear as day. While we were still sleeping~we as in Zachary too~Austin decided to rip open all of Zachary's gifts and dump out his stocking. He shredded the boxes to his stuff and most of Zachary's. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw this. I started yelling, "What did you do? What did you DO!" And his response was, "I was bored." Ryan came running out and also started yelling the same thing. I quickly told Ryan to run and keep Zachary in his room until I can "fix" this. I had to tape boxes shut and find all of Zachary's stocking stuffers. I had to even switch toys that were the same, but gave Zach the unopened box. I don't think I've ever cried so hard. My heart ached. I really can tolerate a lot Austin does, but this just was unforgiveable. I talked a lot to him that day about what he did. But there was no empathy. I know he has problems and lots of them, but I've never witnessed so much selfishness that morning. We didn't open gifts until later that night. I just couldn't celebrate. So it was kind of a crappy Christmas, hence my not posting. I needed the sting to go away.

I hope all my friends had a nice holiday. I'm excited to still have Ryan home a few more days. Tomorrow we're taking Austin to my Grandma's for 4 days........BIG SIGH.........I need the break. I'm getting to scrap on Wednesday and Friday, maybe I'll make a big dent in my pictures. I can't wait for a little destressing time!

Here is a picture from the 23rd where we celebrated at my mom & dad's house. I love this picture. The second one is of my brother and his girlfriend Evan. She's SO pretty! My brother is wearing my Grandpa's red holiday jacket. My Grandpa died 5 years ago on Dec. 21st. It was his favorite holiday and he always wore this jacket.

We're going to watch a movie now, I now pronounce you Chuck & Larry. Hope it's funny!

I am pooped!

I went out shopping today at 8am! Aaack! I had to. Those little things that just seem like you aren't done yet are lingering, but now no more. I hit the mall. Front parking space. Very nice. I was there for a few hours and then left and went to Wal Mart and Linens and Things. I found these for Zachary. Do you know how hard it is to find toddler friendly Star Wars stuff? I also go Hans Solo and Chewbaca. Their about 6 inches high and they're calling them the "trendy" version of Star Wars. He's going to love them! I think they're new? I've never seen them before. So I'm done. Finished. Phew! Ryan is out shopping and I'm going to go get a pedicure and then come home and wrap. I want to share what I got Austin too. He's going to be thrilled! He asked for a video camera. And we looked at the kid ones. So not worth the money. Just crappy altogether. Then Amazon reccommended The Flip. I remember seeing this on Oprah's favorite things. It is really cool and cannot wait to open it! You do not need a video tape and it just plugs in to your tv or computer and transfers. So easy to use. And the best part is that it (60minute rec time) was on sale for the price of the 30 min one! Hopefully he'll let me use it and then I can post some videos here!

I work tomorrow for a short while and then we have a dinner at my parents house. Monday is Ryan's Birthday. We're going to an early lunch and then having dinner again at my parents. I can't wait to give him his birthday present. He keeps dropping hints he wants a watch and I keep telling him it's SO out of the budget......hee hee.....but I bought one for him!

Everyone have a great holiday and be safe! I hope to see some of my scrappy friends after the holidays.

Pictures as promised

I seriously feel like time is running short and to sit here and upload pictures seems like it takes forever! But here are some as promised. I'm really sad about Zachary's program ones. They are so dark and fuzzy. They asked you not to sit in the aisle, so I just snapped from my seat. I hope we can get some off the video camera to make pictures from. He was such a hoot!

I have one shot from my birthday, one of the boys at Snow Day, Ryan & I at his holiday party, Zach's holiday program and Zachary helping make cookies. Today I've stayed home all day baking. I've made a lot of stuff. I need to go put some chocolate on top of the scotcharoos that I made so I better run. Maybe I can write more later when I'm not feeling frazzeled!

It's getting closer!

I cannot believe Christmas is in one week! I was on the ball and then it seems like I've just run out of time! So much to do and so little time. I feel like I've been on the go since Friday. Running around shopping for Birthday & Christmas presents. Made presents Friday night and got home late. Saturday: Snow day and more shopping and KIA's Holiday party. Sunday I worked all day and did more shopping. Today I was able to workout and knock out a big chunk of shopping this afternoon. My MIL picked Zach up from school so I could have some time alone and then I went to Austin's IEP. After that my mom calls and asks if we could come over for dinner. I guess? We weren't able to get together for my birthday so I had to put Santa's visit on hold til tomorrow. Zach has one day of school left and then his holiday program. Austin has 3 days and then they are off! This next week is going to fly by! I haven't baked any goodies or made out Christmas cards. Where did all my free time go? I promise to upload photos tomorrow, I have lots to share. Good night.

Happy Birthday to me!

I'm 36 today. Nothing exciting going on today. Just the normal stuff. Working out, cleaning, making gifts. Tonight we're going to the Cheescake Factory with the kids. I haven't been in a long time. I'm looking forward to going. I ate a bowl of cereal for lunch so I can have yummy dinner and piece of cheesecake. I'm thinking of running up to the mall and buying myself a small present. I really want this; I think white would be nice since I have some many colorful sweaters. OH! I just remembered I have city cash for here!!! And that starts tomorrow! Yeah, now I really can get it. (its NY&Co)

I better run now, I need to get Zachary.

13 days left until Christmas!

Family Fun Day!

That was what our Saturday was designated, Family Fun Day! We went and saw "Enchanted" first. What a cute movie. Ryan laughed a lot, so I was happy he didn't think it was lame. He prefers to not go to the kid movies. Then a quick stop at Oasis-saw Erika & Steph! That was a nice surprise. I grabbed some holiday ribbon for some projects I'm working on. Then over to South Coast Plaza for a bite to eat. I had coupons for a kids meal for $1.99 at Rainforest Cafe. Not my first choice to eat. Or even my second, but the kids like it. Since we ate an early dinner (4:30) we got right in. Then off to the carousel. It's so stinkin cute! Instead of horses its reindeer and sleighs. Then next to that is Santa's Workshop. There are wooden decorations the kids can pick from and decorate. Zach got a reindeer and Austin chose a nutcracker. It was super busy, but they were really enjoying themselves. I had a Reality TV show sighting. Tamara from the Real OC Housewives was with her BF and his & her kids at the workshop. They weren't taping and amazingly no one bothered her or even seemed to notice her. In fact, neither did I. Ryan is the one who pointed her out. I do have lots of cute pics, but I don't know how to transfer from my phone to the computer yet. A task I need to figure out today.

I have a small vent~and most of my loyal readers and friends already know this. I HATE Adelphia. Guess what? Our cable box went out again. This is the 7th one in 2 months! We are officially shopping around for satellite tv now. It really doesn't matter how much money they credit us, their product is crap and their techs are dumb. We've had 3 modems, 4 splitters, 6 techs out,7 cable boxes and about 40 phone calls to them in a matter of 2 months. I think maybe it's time to call the better business bureau.

Tomorrow is my birthday!
There are 14 days left til Christmas!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Really it is. I love December. Both Ryan & I are December babies, so we both seem to be in especially good moods all month. I wish other months had such pretty decorating going on. I managed to get my sisters gift off in the mail today~her birthday is Sunday. I bought some other birthday cards for some special people who have December birthdays as well. I love cards. I could buy four or five for each person. I tend to usually give two because the cards (and humor) is just always the perfect thing to say!

Christmas shopped today. I'm about 50% done. Austin is my challenge this year. Everything he wants is SO expensive, but I think I've narrowed it down.
Tomorrow is a "stay home"day. With the anticipation of the rain, I'm going to workout and then come home to decorate.
Ryan has a meeting at work tonight about a MBA program at his work through Concordia University. I hope it's "a go" because he really wants to get his MBA. That would be such a great accomplishment for him.
Well I need to finish up some laundry and start homework. Have a great day!

Monday

Finally feeling better, though now Ryan has caught that nasty cold I had. An uneventful weekend for us. Soccer is finally done. Celebrated my little brother's 18th birthday and I worked all day Sunday. I'm doing some holiday make & takes at the Red Bee on Sundays. Come by if you can, they are a lot of fun and easy for kids to do. Though the one I'm doing this Sunday is an origami gift box. Eeek. I need to practice this week.
22 days til Christmas
9 days until my birthday.
Have a great day!

Still feeling lousy

Man-I never get sick and this is really taking its toll. I'm SO tired. And the coughing-yuck. No school tomorrow, so I can sleep in. I swear our school district sure has had a lot of days off this month. My plan was to go to Disneyland during the day and my brother's football game tomorrow night. But I think its a "stay home day". Oh yeah....it's my little brother's 18th birthday today! 18, I vaguely remember 18 :)

Here are a few pics from the Holiday weekend.

My sister and Grandma.

The Boyd cousins.
The Boyd "Boys". Not all of them were there. From left to right, my cousin Andrew Michael, my uncle Mike, my brothers Aaron and Colin, my Dad and my brother Garrett. My uncle Jeff was missing and my cousin Andrew David. Yes we have two Andrews!

Garrett's football game-the day after Thanksgiving. I missed it because I was working. They won and have another playoff game tomorrow.

I wanted to let my friends know that I do have my new cell phone! Finally I'm live again and can receive text messages. THis is the phone I got! Lov'in it but still need to figure out everything.

Also, I'm going to be selling two scrapbook things on Ebay, but if you're interested let me know. I'm selling my Best of Becky Higgins Sketches book and a set of NEW Technique Tuesday Stamps-Big Timber Line Lowercase Letters Extra Large. I'm trying to purge and what better time! Have a great day.

I'm back online!

Our internet had been down for a week. Talk about driving me crazy! Time Warner has been horrible for us and we're changing providers. We've had constant problems for the last 4-6 weeks with our cable & internet and we are just done with them! Any ways......my sister was here for a week. She left last night. It was really nice spending time with her. Today I'm sick and really sick. In fact, Ryan stayed home to help out. Last night he was joking if I was going to call in sick today. Funny. He said he didn't have any meetings and could stay home. I think he really wanted a day off. I started having that icky post nasal drip the other day and then my throat started hurting-bad like strept. Then last night the cough started and I sound very horse. I'm achy and tired. I never get sick, but I'll take advantage of it. It's so hard for me to just sit and relax. This is the first I've been online all day. I took a nap while the kids were at school. I'll post more later when I'm feeling up to it. I have some pics to share. I just wanted to check in and say HI!

Nip/Tuck

Did you see last nights episode? Finally they are back to their wacky story lines. I was not enjoying this season very much, but then Dr. Christian Troy won me back. He is just so hot and bad! And I love to hate Rosie O'Donnell's character, Dawn Budge. Man it was a good episode last night.

I hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving and enjoys the weekend. My sister flies in tonight. I won't see her until tomorrow. Should be a good time! Happy Thanksgiving!

Maui in July

It's official. We are going. I cannot wait! July3-16 we will be in Maui. I didn't know if we could pull it off because the airline tickets for the four us are going to be $2000. That's a lot! A lot more so because we really only have one income. But after talking with my parents, they said they would "gift" us two airline tickets. Basically it's our Christmas & Birthday presents. And that's fine with me because I want to go SO bad. We've been talking about it for weeks trying to see if we could do it because it's going to cost a lot. After Christmas I have to seriously save every extra penny. No extravagant shopping trips to scrapbook stores. Gotta cut back on eating out and I need to start using coupons more diligently. We want to go SO bad that we are willing to make the sacrifice for the next 6 months. But I guess it doesn't end there.........because I'm going to NY in the fall. This is probably going to be the toughest saving year ever. But it'll be worth it. :)

NYC October 2008!

I just got the BEST news. My Grandma is using all her frequent flyer miles to buy everyones airline tickets to go to NY next year! Woo-hoo!!!! So we have to figure out some dates over Thanksgiving. I could just bounce off the walls! I'm so gonna send in for tickets to Kelly & Regis and the View. I heard it takes up to a year to get in......so I guess now is the time! Yeah Grandma!!! I know I posted this before, but I need something NY to share!

269 Pictures

That is what I ordered today. What kind of scrapbooker am I that I haven't been printing my pictures? I ordered from Feb thru early August and I still have at least a hundred or so to send off to be printed. Oy Vey! I'm sooooo far behind.

I wanted to share just a little exciting news.....ok maybe it isn't exciting, but my sister sure was. She started her new job Monday at Espirit's Flag ship store in NYC. (it doesn't open until next Wednesday) She was so giddy today when she called me. She said that when you see the Christmas tree in Rockafellar Center the back of her store faces it. She said she can't wait until it's lit. I so wish I could go during Christmas time to see the city decorated. She'll be here next Wednesday night. FIVE whole days she'll be here. :) She said she's lost more weight since her boyfriend broke up with her last week. Poor thing. She's so broken up. But I told her to look on the bright side~now you're a whole size smaller!

Speaking of weight, I've seriously been struggling with mine. It's been a crazy battle the last few months with Austin's school and getting the help he deserves. We're *finally* on the right track this school year. It's been an up hill battle since day one of 4th grade. If you have a child with a learning disability or a special need you truly have to fight what is rightfully deserved for your child. No one else will do it. So with all this stress I've been eating too much, then not at all. Sometimes exercising 5 days in a row and then not for weeks. I swore when I went to Jenny Craig and got to my goal weight (not that I quite reached it) that I would never be heavy again. I pretty much have had smooth sailing until a few months ago. I just can't get it in gear. I cut back my work schedule to not work during the mornings while Zachary is at school to utilize that time to get back to the gym. So today was day one. (again) I'm going again tomorrow morning and then Saturday. And I'm going to join a Boot Camp program that starts in January. Once I start going regularly......I become better motivated. So I just need to keep telling myself that. But why couldn't I just be blessed to be thin and tall?

Finally!

I got the layouts up that I wanted to share. Blogger can be aggrevating.

I need to order pictures, I think it's been 6 months since i've printed pictures! Not that I need them. Scrapping this Friday night-I cannot wait! Going to the Nutcracker Boutique in the morning on Friday. It's a good one, check it out if you're in Brea. :)

I am SO happy the kids don't have school today. It's nice to have a lazy here and there. Austin doesn't have school later this week (Th &F) and we're going to go to Disneyland one of the days. I so hope they have some holiday stuff out. I know they said the 16th kicks off Christmas, but maybe they'll have stuff out on the 15th? Today we're gonna see the BEE movie. And then I'm gonna work on a project~Thanksgiving cards. I so hope I can get them done fast. I want to send the kids school pictures in them.

I went scrapbooking yesterday at work. I brought my ipod and just tuned everything out and got busy. I finished a layout that I am absolutely love. I'm doing about 4 version of them because I have so many pictures. My idea was to use black & cream. Candice Carpenter did a class way back in June at the Bee with the same concept. I downloaded her ideas and used them for inspiration. So here's the first one;
I'm almost done with #2. Using the black & cream stuff is much easier than I thought. I also did these bowling layouts. My Ali Edwards book, Designers Eye is one of my favorite books for inspiration and that's where I got this idea from.
Blogger is being a pain and I can't upload any pictures. I'll insert them later.

While I was working away listening to some tunes, I realized I've been kind of living in a cave. I don't really know any new artists. I know more of the "pop" ones, but the alternative music I'm at a loss. Ryan downloaded a couple songs for me. I saw these artists on SNL-Fiest and Spoon. I love their sound and would love to have a whole collection of alternative/indie sounding music. Does anybody have any reccomendations?

Well I have to run, I'll check back later to insert pics. Hopefully blogger will be behaving.

Gloomy Thursday

Is everyone enjoying this cold gloomy day? I just love this! Sweater on, candle burning, snuggling up to watch tv. Hope it lasts for a while. I wanted to share two finds. One is the 100 Calorie packs that Little Debbie has come out with. I bought these Snow Puffs a couple of weeks ago at Wal Mart and instantly fell in love with them! I have always loved Hostess Snowballs~it's my guilty pleasure. So when I ate one of these, I realized I have a new love. If you enjoy marshmellow and coconut and I mean really love it, you'll die for these!

I found another cute thing at Wal Mart. I don't usually ever buy anything scrapbook related from there, but I always look because you never know. Well today I found this cute kit and for a great price. We are renting a cabin with my parents in February (hopefully there will be snow) and I thought this would be cute for some snowy day layouts!

I can't believe I haven't posted this picture; Zachary hanging a spoon off his nose! I just about died when he did it. No one was talking about it or even doing it, he just took a spoon and did it! Illyse, you should be proud. I guess Sammi and Zachary are meant to be together!

We have this opportunity to go to Maui in July for 2 weeks for an incredible price. A friend of my dad's has a time share and lets him borrow it every other year. Well her sister has one too and is willing to let us borrow hers. We'll be there the same time and in the same complex. How perfect, right? That was until I started looking at airfare prices. Ugh. Let's just say that airfare will be 4 times the amount of the cost of the condo. I'm so sad. It's not like the prices will go down the closer it gets. If anybody knows of somewhere to shop for discount rates or knows any tips, please let me know. I would be so grateful.

Have a great Thursday!

Creative Cafe

Is at the Red Bee. It is so neatly displayed that you just want to touch everything. Click on here to see a pic http://theredbeeblog.blogspot.com/

We've been a busy family. Went to my brother's football game Friday night, they lost. Austin had a soccer game Saturday and they lost. I took the kids to Disneyland Sunday for a few hours. I was hoping some holiday decorations would be up, but I guess they aren't in full swing until Nov 16th. We'll be going on the 15th, Austin doesn't have school so that will be perfect. I'd go Friday, but I'm finally (after months) going to scrap with some friends that Friday night.

My sister is coming home for Thanksgiving this year. Normally she flies out for Christmas, but with a new boyfriend (that's pretty serious) she wants to spend time with him over Christmas. I'm really excited for her to come home. Normally Christmas time is such a whirlwind that we don't get to spend very much time together. Thanksgiving seems to be a little more relaxed. She flies in Wednesday night and leaves Monday night. I can't wait to go and visit her next year. I really want to go to NYC for Christmas time to see it decorated. That is one of my dreams at some point in my lifetime.

Have a great Tuesday!

Happy Halloween!

A quick post....

This is what "Midnight in Moscow" looks like!

I got my nails done this morning and I knew this was dark......but man is it ever! Lovin it.

A "Mexico" man. Zachary doesn't know what daddy is exactly so he just calls him Mexico. And a quick shot from this morning's parade at school. Love seeing all the kiddos dressed up! Have a safe a fun night! Ok, I apologize for the sideways pic, I don't have time to flip it.

Random things

Nothing really exciting going on today. Typical Monday at our house. Kids to school, me at work. Ryan is feeling overwhelmed and came home today. I believe he had a panick attack because he's having trouble breathing. He went to the dr.'s just in case and they couldn't find anything wrong. I'm about 99% sure it's stress. It's nice to have him home in the afternoon. I don't feel so overwhelmed.

Last night was our Friends & Family sale at the Bee. I bought a "Bind it All" to make my own books. It's worth buying with the discount. I can't wait to try it out. I already starting making Zachary a Farm animal book yesterday. Some pictures of him with animals, some without. I'll share when i'm done. I scrapped Saturday at a store that made me mad. I don't typically go there, but in a pinch I will so I can scrap. Let's just say they weren't very kind.

My Grandma-she's still in the hospital. The doctors are getting conflicting results from her MRI & EKG. Some stuff shows that she had a stroke, other things say no. It wasn't a seizure or her blood pressure and whatever happened could have been brought on due to her chemo treatment. My mom is still there with her. It's really scary because she lives alone and 1 1/2 hours away. I'm hoping for good news later today or tomorrow.

Better run, Austin needs help with homework. Have a great Monday.

Freckle Friends Rocks!

I just got home from the Ontario Scrapbook Expo and I have to say that I was SO impressed with Freckle Friends yet again! I bought my first "kit" at an open house at Annie's house a month ago and absolutely love it. So when I saw them today I was thrilled to find these new "kits" and albums. They have a laser cut progressive album that says "thankful" on the front that is absolutely beautiful! I cannot wait to take some Thanksgiving pictures to put in this. It's just gorgeous! Then they have a "merry" album. My first peek of this was on Annie's blog and I thought how cute, but to see it in person........gorgeous! It'll be perfect for our trip up to the snow in February. I love to touch and see stuff in person before buying, so I've never really done a kit club. But after these last purchases I'm just more and more impressed with them and will definitely take the plunge.

My other favorite was Scenic Route. I just love them. They had some amazing buys and all their new lines. I think between these two places I spent my whole budget just like that! (insert snapping fingers sound)

Though I had an amazing time at the show, my dad called me to tell that my Grandma passed out and was rushed to the hospital. Very scary. She started her second bout of chemo yesterday. The doctors are saying that her blood pressure dropped. Good thing my aunt was there!

My sister also called while I was at the show. She got a new job working at the "Flagship" store for Espirit. I guess she's going to be a manager? Any who.....it'll be opening next month in the Rockefeller Plaza. Oh la la........

Have a great night! I'm working. By the way, I was told that Creative Cafe arrive at our store yesterday. :) Not sure if it's out yet, but I'm excited!!!

Another drab day

I sure would love to see a clear sky. The haze from all the fires & smoke is just awful. Our soccer practices have been cancelled all week and we just got an email that all games are cancelled for the weekend. Thank God! No one should be outside in this.

Tomorrow I'm going to the Ontario Scrapbook Expo with my girlfriend Sandra. It should be a good time. I'm always up for a little fun girl trip. Poor Zachary has to go with us, but he's a good boy. I'll bring him lots of snacks and I'm sure he'll end up with some stickers!

Well I better run, need to figure out some dinner for the family!

Smell that?

Can you believe how smokey it is outside? The fires here are just out of control. I hope everyone near them stays safe and doesn't lose their home.

Chelsea Handler is SO DAMN FUNNY! We laughed our butts off at the Improv. We ate a ton of food at Havana Mania-I think that is the only place where I clear my entire plate. I just love their food! And their Mojito's......mmmmm. Gotta try their Razzberry Mojito.

This just in****my brother is being "deployed" to go help with the fires!***** They called him at work and said to go home and pack and be ready in NOW! I guess he's to protect homes and businesses from being loitered. Being in the National Guard he has to be available when they call. Wow.

Ok, so nothing seems that important now. I'll post some pics tomorrow of the Halloween party the boys went to.

A 2 week hiatus

I didn't mean to not blog for two weeks, I've just been rather lazy about it. Let me see if I can speed my friends up.

Today is my 4 year anniversary! We're going out to dinner at Havana Mania and then to the Brea Improv to see Chelsea Handler. I cannot wait!

Yesterday was Bunco. Fun stuff! Everyone dressed up. Love seeing all the girls.

I worked Monday & Wednesday.

Sunday I scrapped with my new goodies from the Tour de Crop!

Saturday (13th) was the Tour de Crop from HELL! Ok, so it was really a great time, BUT because we were going up towards the Valencia area, we got stuck in the 5fwy closer and what should have taken 1.5 hours took 2.5 and then to the next store took triple the time. Needless to say I'm in NO hurry to get on a bus any time soon! LOVED the two stores.....I really like Remember When in Valencia. SO STINKIN CUTE! The girls were sweet and I loved how cute the crop room was decorated.

Friday was Round-up. I'm over Round Up. I can't believe I have to go another 2 years!

Tuesday we went to Tanaka Farms with my MOMS group.

Monday I worked all day. My mother in law had the day off so she helped watch the kids.

Sunday we spent the day at the BLOCK. We bought Austin a Vans Skate park pass. He had a blast!

Saturday I took Zach to a Birthday party and then scrapped in the evening at my work. I'm soooooooo far behind in my scrapping and have such little time for it any more. So it was nice to spend a good chunk of the day getting stuff done.

That should bring us to today and what's to come. Ryan is walking in the CHOC walk at Disneyland Sunday morning. I wish it wasn't SO early (7am) I'd take the kids to watch. My Grandma & Great Aunt are at my moms visiting for the weekend. I'm supposed to shop with them tomorrow and go to lunch, but we have carpet cleaners coming in the morning and a Halloween party at 2pm. So much to do! I have a movie reccommendation; you HAVE to see Knocked Up! Oh my gosh is it funny! Have a great weekend!

The weather is perfect today

This is my favorite kind of weather. A little breezy & cool. I can wear a light weight sweater and jeans and not be too hot or cold. And the wind....I've always liked the wind. I wonder what that means? I know it's going to change tomorrow. It seems as though our weather has been all over the place since the first of September. Inspired by the change, I went to Kohl's and bought some fall kitchen hand towels and a small table runner with patchwork pumpkins. So cute! (And a pair of shoes, I could help it! I've really been into cute ballet flats) All their fall stuff is 50% off.

I haven't posted any pics lately, that's because I haven't really taken any except for this one. Last weekend I bought a scooter at my MOMS club garage sale. Nothing like making a 3 y/o happy!

The "boys" are going to my brothers football game at Fullerton Stadium tonight. I guess he's starting-not sure what position he plays. I'm working. I feel like I'm always dragging to get there, but then once I'm there all the scrappers make me happy and get my energy going! Tomorrow I'm going to our all day crop later in the day. Can't wait! I feel like I'm slowly getting back to it on a regular basis. Austin has a soccer game and Zachary a birthday party tomorrow. But Sunday is wide open! I'm hoping to go out to breakfast and just hanging out and hitting the Macy's sell with my mom. She always gets the best coupons from them! I'm trying to pick up things here and there for Christmas. I know, Christmas! Aaaack!

We're going to Tanaka Farms on Tuesday....looking forward to that. I'm trying to clean up some pictures and get them on a disk so I can delete all the ones off my camera. So I guess I better run! Have a great weekend!

20th out of 130!

Can you believe that? We are 20th on the list for the assistance program for a first time home buyer. A little scary.....but definitely exciting.

Also some exciting news.....my husband signed us up for the lottery to get Angel playoff tickets and I was chosen! Pretty cool, considering he didn't even tell me. We have tickets to game 4 which I guess is being played Monday sometime. (read it's at 6:30, but I don't have my email tickets yet)

I had a whole lot to post about, but now it doesn't seem as interesting. Good Night!

Catching up

Seems like lately I can't keep up with my blog. This school year has just overwhelmed me and I feel like I'm constantly trying to catch up. So here's a little catching up on our weekend.

Saturday I went with some friends to go see Disney's Playhouse Show at the Kodak Theater. I was excited to see the Kodak theater, but dreading the drive because it is FAR for a 10:30 a.m. show. And it didn't help matters that we had major rain that day. (Did you know it hasn't rained in Southern California in September in 21 years!) We showed up with minutes to spare. Bought a "magic wand" and found our seats. The show was really cute with Mickey & friends, Little Einsteins, Handy Manny and Winnie the Pooh. The eye closure is on purpose. My friend took three and each time he kept his eyes closed. After the show we thought what a great idea it would be to eat at the Kodak center. Except it starting drizzling. By the time we got our food and were sitting outside under some awning, it started pouring and the wind was blowing....you'd think a hurricane was blowing in. The kids were wet, the moms were wet and our food was ruined. Besides the fact that the kids were now crying. Such a bummer becaue I have never been here before and really wanted to stay and walk around. Oh well. So we packed it up and came home.

Sunday-We went to Oak Glen with ALL of my family. Mom, Dad, Colin, Garrett, Garrett's girlfriend Isabelle and us. We had SO MUCH FUN! But we were exhausted by the end of the day. My Grandma was supposed to go, but she bailed first thing in the morning worried that she'd be too tired. It was probably a wise decision because we walked a ton. We stopped at all the different farms and little shops. We picked raseberries & apples. We had apple donuts and apple cider and a brisket lunch that was super yummy! The boys had the best time. Austin would try going the furthest away to pick his raseberries & apples, which drove me nuts and also didn't allow for me to take very many pictures of him. We also watched the cheesiest western show, don't do it. It could be summed up in 10 minutes but they go on for 40 minutes. Boutght a huge apple pie which was so delicious! I am absolutley exhausted today and so are the boys. In fact, Zachary was already talking about his nap this morning for this afternoon. I know I'm ready for one now.

I'm not ignoring you my bloggy friend

I just feel so overwhelmed. So overwhelmed that I can't even think of what direction to go in. Here's a list of what is going on in my brain and why I feel this way.

1. I hate Wednesdays. It's a love/hate thing. I'm SO busy that I dread it the whole day before. This is how Wednesdays go. 6:30 am, wake up start making lunches, getting Austin ready for school. 7:30am drive Austin to school. Back home by 8am. (Zachary eats breakfast in the car) Shower, get dressed pack Zach's bag and out the door by 8:50 am. Drop Zach off at school, 9am. Drive to Tustin, arrive at 9:30. Work until 12:30, drive back to Fullerton, pick Zach up and go home. I eat lunch he watches cartoons. Nap at 1:30. Phew.....30 minutes of down time, Austin walks in the door at 2pm. Check homework list, he get a break for 30 minutes, start homework. Fortunately today it isn't too hard (the homework), but usually I'm sitting right there with him for a few hours. 5pm snack, get ready for soccer. 5:45 leave for soccer. 7pm Soccer over. Drive through for dinner. 8pm Baths & showers, 8:30 bedtime. You ask where Ryan is? Work and softball. I know I choose to work and I thoroughly enjoy it, but man Wednesdays are looooong!

2. The Fourth Grade is hard. Harder than I ever thought it was going to be. And harder for Austin because of his ADHD. They (school district) tested him and said he doesn't have a learning disability. I just don't see how he can't seeing as it takes him f-o-r-e-v-e-r to do his homework and the fact he still struggles with spelling. I need to contact our UCI doctors and see about getting tested there.

3. When am I going to get to scrap again? I have no free time. None. And that makes me sad.

4. My Grandma's lymphoma is back. :( She starts chemo (again) next week. The doctors say this will be how it is the rest of her life. That makes me double sad.

5. I need my carpets cleaned. I was waiting for the kids to go back to school to do it, but with the turn of the weather I should really wait.

6. I'm hungry! Why hasn't anyone invented the "magic pill" for weight loss? I hate counting points, but it's working. Another love/hate thing.

7. When will the city of Brea call us and say "your name came up, here's what we need you to do to get into a house."

I know, one step at a time. I better go check on Austin. Not trying to be a Debbie Downer, just wanted to let you know I'm not ignoring you. :)

Goodies

Last night I went to my friend Annie's house for a night of shopping. How could I resist? There were going to be 6 different ladies selling some sort of home based product. Well, let me tell you that I walked away with 3 fabulous finds! My first find and probably my new favorite necklace, is from Pink Pear Giftware. They had necklaces and bracelets all with little photo holders. As a scrapbooker this is right up my alley. They had so many styles to choose from. But this one really caught my eye. The picture I put in it is temporary because it's two years old and I'd like a more current one. I was so excited last night that I had to put something in it so I could wear it today! (Their necklace was part of the nominee gift bag for the 59th Emmy Awards! How cool is that???)

My second find, an Amy Tangerine shirt. How cute is this heart? I loved taking her class, so I was thrilled to see she'd be selling goodies at Annie's house.

And my last find. Let me just say I have never bought into the "Kit Clubs" for scrapbooking. I'm always a little leary. Last night Susuan from Freckle Friends was also at Annie's selling extra project kits. When I saw this mini book titled "This Boy..." I knew I had to have it. All of the Freckle Friends kits are very well put together for you to just whip it open and make whatever it is. So worth the money! In fact, I'm considering her October project kit, because one of my favorite designers is designing it!

Here's the links to my awesome finds

www.pinkpeargiftware.com

www.frecklefriends.com

www.amytangerine.com

Thanks Annie for inviting me, I had a fabulous time!

Layouts as promised

I've been really bad about posting layouts and really that's the whole reason I started this blog. So here are a few and I'm going to try and post some in my 2peas gallery. I think I have a link on here to that. I apologize for some of these being blurry. I took them without the flash and used my old camera.

So that's enough for today. I do have more.

And to answer Christine, yes, I started doing points at home on Monday. Today is day 3.

I kept Zachary home again. He woke up around 4 a.m. burning up, but so far no fever. Last night seemed to be one of those sleepless nights. Have you ever had a dream that seemed so real? I woke up out of it and did one of those gasps and sat straight up. Shoke me to the core. It was about an earthquake we have. Really bad. I couldn't get to the kids room, it just was so intense. Ryan was running getting both kids out of bed. It seemed so real and I felt so helpless. It took me a good hour to fall back asleep. Every noise I heard just freaked me out. I've come to the conclusion we aren't ready if there is ever really a "big one". No battery operated radio or flash light. So I will be making a kit over the next few days. I called my friend Sandra this morning to tell her about it and she asked if I had heard about that one in Indonesia. No I didn't? 8.2, wow, that's scary. I guess it's really time to be more prepared.