Big Light!

When B was a little boy he took his mom's keys and decided that they fit perfectly in the light socket. That night before bed he said, 'Big light' because of the big spark it created when he stuck it in. His mom said that the rubber on the keys was melted and that it was a miracle that he wasn't hurt.

Well F has the same facination with the sockets as B did when he was little. Tonight he was playing with a dime near my camera charger that is always plugged into the wall. He slid the dime down behind the charger but it was still plugged in. I caught him as he was trying to unplug the charger. 'NO, F!' I pulled him away and pulled the charger out myself and there was a big spark. I actually think I saw a flame. I explained to him that playing with the sockets was dangerous and that he could get a big owie. This is what happened to the socket. That makes 2 in our house. I hope he has learned his lesson.

Church Ball

It's that time of year again and for the last month, every Friday, B has games. Tonight was happy and sad. His team had a double-header. I really hate these. They totally creamed the first team but because they were so tired from the first game they lost by half the second game. Which was really sad because I think if they had all their energy they could have kept a pretty close game. The two teams were a good match. It was sad but there's always next week! B's team has only lost one game so it will be interesting to see who they play next week.

I love Church ball...and sadly enought they don't have it for women here. I was a little upset. And our enrichment committee has finally agreed to do indoor soccer for enrichment night for those who'd like to but now there are construction workers working on the gym. Oh I can't win. At least I still have the gym for my workouts. And happy to report that I have gone every day this week. Hurray for me. Still lots to lose.

Del Sol Model

I love Del Sol products. They change colors in the sunlight. This past summer M modeled for them and now she can see herself on the internet. Click on the link below and check her out. She's so cute. She's on the homepage and then click on products. I am not sure if they are going to do a catalog this year or not but these are cute. I have all her proof AND she had so much fun.

http://www.solkids.com/

Virginia City

B was reading one of his Louis L'Amore books and it was set in Virginia City, Nevada. So when he was finished he decided to take the family to see it. For those familiar with Park City's main street...it was a lot like that. But about half the size. We walked along the 'boardwalk' and saw a few cowboys showing off their guns...

and in the shops there was a lot of history. There was a fireman's museum we went into and the tour guide said that oxygen masks weren't really worn until the 1950's and before that you were not considered a 'real' fireman if you wore one. We ate lunch at the Delta Restuarant and the waitresses were dressed in 'pioneer' dresses. I personally don't think I could work somewhere if I had to where a costume. The food was yummy though. B and K got some historic books of Virginia City at the Mark Twain Bookstore. And we all got salt water taffy at one of the general stores. This place was awesome. It was filled with all kinds of old fashion signs...like Hot Dogs 10 cents and parking signs like...Princess Parking Only. There was a corner for Coke lovers, Betty Boop lovers, I Love Lucy lovers, John Deere lovers, fishing lovers, hunting lovers, Choppers, all kinds of Root Beers, and the lists goes on and on.

What a fun store. And we had a good time as a family.

Swimming in January

My visiting teacher came over last night and asked me what we had planned for the 4 day weekend? Nothing. B still had to work and I still have to go to the gym. So she invited us to go swimming. Swimming in January?

So at 8:45 am we were off to the gym for my workout. Then we went home to shower, scrapbook, eat lunch, and find swim suits. I am so white it's disgusting. Shana was asking why we were so tan? I think the lighting was affecting her vision. Anyway...then it was off to the pool.

It was so fun. The kids just loved it. The Swim Center had 2 slides, diving boards, a theraputic pool (super warm), and one of those kiddie pools with water shooting out everywhere. They even had large nerf balls so F was in heaven. M and A braved the diving boards while K conquored the slides.

She also went off the high dive. That's a feat that I won't even do anymore. We had a great time! Thanks, Hamblins!

The kid's school was having a fundraiser at Baskin Robbins so after dinner we went to get some yummy ice cream! It was so yummy.

Then off to see Daddy ref a basketball game and then play in one. What fun.

I had the worst time taking pics of the game. I tried the fast motion setting...blurry...then the P setting...somewhat better. I finally just left it on the P setting with and ISO of 1600. I can't remember if I used automatic setting for white balance or changed it to florescent but I do remember one of them didn't work and I want to say it was the florescent. But here are some of them.

I took a ton and now have to weed through the ones I don't need. Ugh. But what a fun day.

Ink and Scrapbooking

I finally got my ink...then there was a frustrating 2 hours trying to by pass the 'use espon ink only'. What a pain. But we are up and running and happy to be. I have a ton of stuff waiting to be printed. Lots of scrapbook pages that I put together and journaling will be the final touch. I purchased a Quickutz hand tool with one letter set and I like it but it would be much much faster if I just had the Silhouette Craft Cutter. Maybe I can get it for...my anniversary! I'd say Valentine's Day but that's a little too expensive for that holiday. For us anyway. It would be so nice to just type my titles and have them print out in the font I want. So convenient. But for now I will just be happy not to have to use an exacto knife.

It's January and I have been inspired by Lisa to get scrapping again. So I have been busy getting this summer done. Sad that it's taken me this long but it's just so convient to download my pics to my computer and let them sit. Between downloading and editing them I am exhausted and don't want to look at them for awhile. But I am now motivated. It will pass I am sure of it...it always does but we're living for the here and now, right. So here we go. I am posting them here because this is all I have been doing for the past 2 days.

Funny Things They Say

F was just playing around in our room last night before bed and out of no where he says, 'Mommy, you're FIRED!'

B and I looked at each other and he asked, 'Did he just say 'You're Fired'?'
'Yes, he did.' I replied. So I guess I get to do whatever I want, whenever I want. Hurray!
Sadly it doesn't work like that. And that's okay. I love my kids.

Updated Home

A couple of you have asked to see some of my current projects and to be honest...I don't have any. I have been really lazy this year. I have a whole book of ideas for my house but I don't have a paying job so I have to pace myself and prioritize. This makes me both impatient and discouraged. So at least for now I will concentrate on painting. And because we need to think about resale...our colors will be the same throughout the house...with the exception of the 2 bathrooms and maybe the master bedroom and bath. But that's a long ways a way.

Here are a few updates since we've painted. It really looks warmer and more inviting since we moved in all the way back in September.

This is the piano room that we painted Saturday. It looks really nice now. But as I am taking pictures of the rooms now it still looks bare. I still have thing I haven't put up so maybe I will do that now. I also need some plants. That would add some pretty green to the rooms. Too many plans!

Food . Friends . And a game of cards .

There are many ways we like to spend our weekend nights but one of the best we know is inviting friends over for dinner and playing games. Last night B had some coworkers and their families come over for dinner. But before they came over we had to paint one more room in our house to complete the great room space. Our piano room was still bare walled but looks great now. (We'll tackle the hall and kids rooms next)

It was so fun to have friends over. We had a BBQ in January and the food was so tasty. Thanks, B. Then we played 'Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader'. The girls lost with $25,000 and the men winning their million $'s. And boy did they rub it in. After brownies and ice cream we played...The Biggest Loser...I think that's what it's called. It a card game and really fun with a lot of people. We laughed so hard and I discovered, with the help of our friends, that K has the same kackle as B. I had never really noticed until someone said, 'They have the same laugh!' They all thought it was hilarious when the two of them would start laughing at the same time in the same manner. What a hoot.

I don't have any pics but next time I will remember to pull out my camera. We love having friends over.

For Lisa J.

My friend, Lynette, got me into blogging and I had no idea that I would become this hooked. I have never been good about writing in a journal. My idea of a journal was a collage of notes and pictures taped and glued in...kind of like a yearbook only 3-D. Well all the journals I have ever seen were not inspiring me creatively. Lynette said, 'At the end of every month I print my blog off and stick it in a binder. That's my journal.' So that is exactly what I have been doing. I feel like I can be more creative with 'My Journal' in this way. I got the thickest white ring binder... those are my favorite...and put a title on it to match all my other idea binders...and stick my blog in there. I print my pages on cardstock because it holds the colored ink better and stick it in the binder. No sheet protectors. I love it. It's simple, it's my journal, and it's organized.

Technology

I am waiting for my ink order to arrive so I can print off December and change all the colors on my blog. It's taking forever. I ran out of cyan and I can't even print off black and white. What does cyan have anything to do with black and white. Sometimes I hate technology. Such a love hate relationship I have. But all in all I have to admit that I can't live without technology. Which reminds me of a funny story. Making me look like an idiot but oh well. I was trying to move my sister in laws car and couldn't unlock the doors. I asked Leah how I was suppose to move her car if I couldn't unlock it using the automatic lock/unlock. So we're looking at the car with the keys in our hands...3 seconds go by...and Leah takes the key and manually unlocks the car. DUH! I haven't had to use my brain in so long that I had to really think. It was sad.

ALIAS

Friday there was a blizzard warning in tahoe so B decided to stay home! Hurray! I was surprized at how much we accomplished in one day with dad home. We got the laundry cleaned, chores done, 3 meals made, and even played 'Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader' DVD edition. It was so fun. We divided into girls and boys teams and niether one of us won the million dollars but the girls made it to the bonus round. Which was the million $ question. We got it wrong. I can't even remember the question but they don't give you the answer if you're wrong. It was so fun.

After all the family fun and house was clean...and lunch was over...B and I decided to make it an 'Alias' night. Holy Cow! Instead of an Alias night it became an Alias weekend. We finally finished after staying up till 1:30 am. And I am satisfied. If you are planning on watching the Alias season DO NOT READ ANY MORE OF THIS PARAGRAPH! STOP HERE! If you have already watched it or have no interest to watch it then KEEP READING. I was so happy to see that all the bad people REALLY died in the end. Except for Sloan, who never dies...fitting somehow, but is buried for eternity in a cave never to escape. Love it. Loved learning that Vaughn was still alive and safe...mostly. So glad that he really didn't die because that would suck. He and Syd have a gorgeous family and are safe on a deserted island. The writing team for this show was incredible. They made me so angry with their continuations and I would have died if I had to wait a whole week before watching to see what happened next. They did an amazing job. What a great series. Hhighly recommend it to anyone who has not yet seen it.

Now that we are done with this season we need another one. Any suggestions?

Beads. Beads. And More Beads.

Beads.

Beads.

And more beads.

Oh the joy of beads. Aunt Maren gave the girls in our family and very large bead assortment for earrings, necklaces, anklets, bracelets, and anything else your little bead heart could imagine. I am not into beads but found that this was something I could teach my girls and do with them. So thank you, Maren. We needed this.

K made a white and silver bracelet to match her baptism dress and I made earrings to match. K now has 3 pairs of earrings, a necklace, and bracelet. She is so proud of all of them and she should be.

M was way cute. She picked out her beads and made a pattern. She made a bracelet first then a really cute choker to match. She had lots of fun and is really excited to show them to dad.

Little Fairy

After storytime today M wanted to wear her fairy dress up she got for christmas. She is so cute. I asked her if I could take some pics of her and she let me. I told her to dance around like a fairy and she was so adorable. She wore this outfit for hours. I just love her. She is at such a fun stage.