December 2, 2008

I can't believe I missed a whole month! The time is flying by!!! I have lots of pictures to post. I experienced my first Black Friday. Actually it started at 10:30pm on Thanksgiving and moved into Friday. The numbers of people crowding into stores just amazed me! I couldn't even get to display racks in some of the stores to look at the items I was interested in because of the numbers of people I would have had to push through!

Halloween was good. The kids trick-or-treated around our neighborhood and Halloween night dressed as Eeyore (Brooke), Storm Trooper (Luke), and Paul Abdul (guess), and a Hotdog (Samson), they paraded around downtown Monte the night before and merchants handed out treats.... and sometime before midnight someone smashed our pumpkins :(

November was pretty uneventful. Thanksgiving was at Danielle's in Castle Rock with cousins and Grandpa (Dad) was here from N. CA. The food was wonderful. I drove Nikki up to Denver and showed her the 16th Street Mall and the Capital and some other misc. attractions in the area... Invesco field, 6 Flags, Pepsi Ctr..... homeless.... hookers.... oh, actually we didn't go down Colfax. We will save that for the trip we go to Casabonita! I haven't been there in 30 years at least so we will have to do that one trip up north!

So, after shopping Black Friday and getting some okay deals (no electronics so wasn't that big of a deal).... we are now into December... Christmas is right around the corner... not panicing!!

I will try and post pictures soon... I have a lot to add!

Swap card for this weekend.... watch for fun in the Sand!

So here is the card I sent to Loveland for the Team Meeting I cannot attend again!! Even though I can't be there it is still fun swapping. This weekend I will be posting the pictures from our little trip to the Great Sand Dune National Park! Loads of fun - the kind you can bring home with you! Wondered why my socks were so heavy - there was probably still 3-4 Tablespoons worth of sand in the toes!!

Anyway - back to Stamping - if anyone is interested in buying kits to make their own Christmas cards - either from what you have seen here or I can send you ideas using other stamp sets - let me know and I can get you a price and get your materials ordered - complete with instructions on what sizes of cardstock to cut, assembly, everything!

October 7, 2007

That is the day that Samson "Naughty Boy" was born! And his friend Erin up north....

Happy Birthday Samson and Erin!!!!

So for breakfast Sam got to have eggs and toast with Brooke....

I was amazed that he sat there and didn't grab it out of Brooke's hand... she had to drop it for him.... he must be maturing :)

And here are Samson and Erin on Christmas morning when they met for the first time. Erin REALLY liked Samson's bed.

On October 1 at 2pm the kids at Elementary school in Bran's class ran their "Mile for a Smile". They went to the High School track and ran 4 laps (or walked it) and with each completed lap got part of a smile drawn on their hand.





Brandy started out at the back but after the second turn she was passing everyone!

Above is her first lap.... below is starting her 2nd lap....

Start of 3rd lap

Coming in for her finish... Brandy was the 3rd to finish in her class and the 1st girl! Great Job Brandy!!

And the "smile" on her hand and face!! Her time was 10:04 minutes! Whoohoo!! She is way faster than I would have been... I did tell her next time they do this I will do it also.... guess I better get in better shape soon :)

Waking up with "Scared Hair"

This is what Grandpa George would call scared hair!!!! I think this is the most scared it has ever been!!

French Braids

Brooke never lets me do anything to her hair.... but, she lets Nikki. So, here are the two of them with their hair braided the same :)

Tennis anyone?

We finally had a chance to go to the tennis courts - Nikki, Luke, and I. I started teaching Nikki how to play and she is doing great!! We still haven't covered backhand but we went from just learning to hit the ball (not too hard) over the net to serving and then some of the rules of the game. We played a little bit and had some great volleys.... it's nice to have someone to play with right here at home!! Now, if we can just find time when we both are available to go play again!! It had been over 25 years since I had played before starting to play in August.... where does the time go?

Luke was our ball fetcher (he doesn't know that though). He would take the handball raquet and hit the balls back to us from all over the court(s). He did a great job!! Didn't complain at all. The kid has a pretty good throwing arm too - he can throw a tennis ball further than I can!

On the Foreign Exchange Student front....

I was talking to the coordinator for New Mexico and Colorado today to get more information on the program for a friend and we were talking about the Community Reps and what their function was.... she told me she is hiring a few and would I like to be one. Found out what it entails and I think it would be fun!! Drew thinks I should do it too! So, I will talk to her again tomorrow and sign up!! I can't be Nikki's CR but that's okay.... it will be fun to get to know a little about some of the other students too!! And, next year I will be able to help place some of the new students.... they can be placed anywhere in the United States!! So, be thinking about it.... I might just be asking you to host one!!

god natt (good night)

1 of the Christmas Card Stamp Camp cards

Here is one of the cards that we will make if I come up north for a stamp camp.... I will post a couple more when I get them done..... still haven't given up on coming up!!

OMG - I was only gone 2 1/2 hours......

And that was plenty of time for miss Brookie Lou to get into 5 jars of glitter, 2-1 oz jars of Sterling Silver (can't get now) embossing powder (EP), 1-1 oz jar of Winter White EP (can't get now), 1-1 oz jar Gold Glory EP (can't get now), 1-1 oz jar Dazzling Diamonds glitter, and 1-1/2 oz jar Heat & Stick powder..... total damage: $60.90 :(

Where did all the glitter/EP go? Apparently it is now in the vacuum cleaner bag.... ever try to separate 6 different kinds of powders!?!

Don't know if you can tell that these are empty, but, they are - except for one EP that now has glitter in it!! Guess I will be 1/5 of the way to keeping my Demonstratorship!! Just glad I didn't have to clean it up!! We will be seeing glitter for weeks to come!!

We have a 3 year old!!

Brooke is now 3 :( My baby is growing up.... so, we made a special day of it. She went with me to play tennis (I know - this was not for her), we went to McD's for her "birthday club" free happy meal, came back to Jeane's Beads and she picked out her purple beads and sat down and strung those little beads with that fine wire while I picked out beads for my Grandmother's necklace (her 89th birthday is this coming Friday the 26th) and started working on mine. We left Jeane's for a little while and went and looked a house down the street from us. Very large house with tons of storage - needs tons of updating though! We went to Jeane's to finish our necklaces and then off to the "Sugar Shack" for the ice cream I had promised. We then went to Safeway to get dinner supplies and then home to cook and eat dinner so she could open those presents and then we finished up with ice cream cake!! I think Brooke had a good day! Without the kids there she wouldn't play in the play area - just ate out there.

I was truly amazed at how well she strung those little beads on that fine wire..... I think she did better than I did!! She really had fun doing this.

So, here is her necklace. It has 2 shades/sizes of purple crystals and a really cool butterfly hanging down. It has the magnetic clasp - very easy for little fingers to do and undo by herself!!

And, here is the ice cream cake - yummy!!

Homecoming

We made it through Homecoming week. Nikki did not get Homecoming Queen but was relieved! Tues night was Coronation. As I posted previously - I deleted all the pics on my camera from this :( Wed night was the powder puff football game - Fresh/Jr won that game over the Soph/Sr. Thurs night was Brooke's birthday!! She is a 3 year old now - I will post her pics in a separate post. Friday night was the parade - Nikki was on the dance team float and Jason was on the Freshman float. Brandy and Brooke got to see the parade - Brandy from school and Brooke with her daycare. I saw the band and some of the floats from across the parking lot from my window at work. Friday night the FB team played Pagosa Springs and lost - not by too much though. Today the girls volleyball team had games and tonite is the dance. So, we have Nikki pinning the boutenere on Christian, Christian, the Sophomore class King....
The two of them together and each messing around before leaving for dinner and then the dance.

Can't Believe I did This :(

So, I never delete the pictures off my ScanDisk until last Tues night..... I thought I had copied them to my computer so I deleted them (which included the pics I had just taken at Coronation).... I am just sick over this - 4 days later - still just sick.

We may have royalty among us!

Nikoline got nominated for Homecoming Queen!! They don't have Homecoming in Norway so this is a new thing for her... we are really excited! I will post pictures after homecoming next week! Brooke's birthday is next Thursday the 18th - right in the middle of Homecoming festivities! I will be working her birthday party around parade, football game and the dance! In 10 days I will have a 3 year old and maybe a queen under our roof!! Whoohoo

Oh My - Look at all the STamps!!

So, I had only 18 of the sets on this table and there were way over 200!!! I got to participate in a Retired Stamp and Accessory sale last night! I sold a few things but still need to sell some more so I can get NEW stuff!!!!!!! There were at least 4-6 more tables with punches, ink pads, papers, ribbons, etc on them also.... fun stuff!!

I will try and post the sets that are still available for sale and pricing in the next week in case anyone is interested.

And... our last "first day of school"

Luke finally got his shot at school! He only went for one day this week and only with 1/3 of his class so..... there are still 2/3 of his class he has not met. He will meet them on Tuesday! (Note: first day of school was actually Thursday not today)

Brooke also thought she was going to school today....

She was okay with leaving Luke at school and going with Mommy to do the grocery shopping - just the 2 of us - which included not 1 but 2 trips from the far side of the store to the other for a potty break!! She is a big girl now!!

Saw this today and really like it!

Men try to fix problems with duct tape. God did it with nails.
-Anonymous

Another First Day!

So, today was Brandy's first day in a new school with a new school and no classmates she knows... I am so proud of her... she walked right in - met her new teacher (who seems to be very nice) - picked a desk and unpacked her supplies. She didn't want me to stay so we left and she said she had a good day and she thinks she will like her teacher :) Happy Day!!

Not the best picture with the light in the background... she looks so grown up.... 3rd grade going on 30.... they should make a movie like that!! Tomorrow I will post Luke on his first day!! He will get to ride the bus every afternoon from his school to Brandy's school where I will pick them up on my way home from work - my first day is next Tues.... maybe I will post a picture of me leaving for work too!

It Has Started!

I can't believe the day is finally here when Jason starts High School!! I have a Freshman (Jason) and a Senior (Nikki) this year! And, I have one excited to start school here and one who is not...

They both made it through their first day without too much trouble.... although Jason did manage to go to one wrong class..... after which he went to the right classroom to tell the teacher and she just laughed! I actually met that teacher when at the elementary school for Brandy's reading test - she is very nice!

So, by the end of this week I will have Brandy in 3rd grade and Luke in 1st. Brandy will start tomorrow so I am sure I will post another 1st day picture!! and Luke has only one day this week and that is Thursday! Which, as it turns out is my morning to play tennis so I will only have Brooke and she has a friends house to go to!! I will not be posting pictures of me playing tennis as it has been about 25 years since I played last and it may not be pretty :)

The first week has gone well....

At least from my perspective!! Nikoline arrived here at 9:45pm a week ago - August 14th - at the local airport. Her luggage did not :( So, our first introduction to the area was a shopping trip on Friday to the big city to buy clothes. Finally on Sunday afternoon the bags arrived - minus her I-Pod speakers. It is a mystery where they ended up - they were at the top of her large case. But, the cheese made it! and the cheese slicer (which I learned was invented in Norway) - very nice silver slicer with viking ships in the handle!!

So far we have really enjoyed having Nikki here with us... the pictures she showed me of Norway are just beautiful and I would LOVE to go there some day!!

After one week of being here in the small town without any friends and she is more than ready to start school!! We went to orientation tonite and Nikki was already invited to a birthday party by one of the girls on the Volleyball Team. Looks like she is off to a great start here!! The kids all seemed really friendly at the High School. Jason seems to be making friends also... his friend CJ is in 5 out of 6 of his classes... glad I am not his / their teachers!!

I also got a job this week - it is a long story, but, I will be working for a Civil Engineer doing the drafting!! I will have to learn new software but it is similar to the AutoCAD I have used so hopefully my tired wornout brain will grasp it all quickly!! Brooke gets to go to work with me too. So, one random phone call and I am working again and no longer a SAHM - not sure how I feel about that yet, but, God provided and I won't turn my back on it!! He just needs to give me the ability to do the job now!!

Brooke saw the camera come out tonite and had her pose immediately!!

My Swap for Sunday

I won't be able to attend the team meeting in Loveland on Sunday but my card swap will!! I used the Serene Spring (first time since I got it!!) and all the new In Colors and one of the new Designer Papers. The butterfly I did an extra of and set it up with a dimensional. It looks much cuter in person!!





Cardstock: Kiwi Kiss, Red Riding Hood, Very Vanilla
Stamps: Serene Spring
Ink: Basic Black Classic Pad, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette, Red Riding Hood, Baja Breeze, Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Blender Pen
Embellishments: Old Olive Twill Ribbon, Silver HodgePodge, Scallop Punch, Dimensionals

It was fun to get everything out and play!! Hope to have more time soon for more!!

The things you don't see in the big city

Well, I got to go to a crop at church last night and work on some more of my 6x6 family scrapbook. I actually got about 5-6 pages done. I will try and post them tomorrow if I have time. We are picking Nikoline up at the airport at 9:32pm. She starts her journey here at about 1:40am on Thursday so she will have a very long day with 4 plane changes. I believe she will be going from Oslo to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Minneapolis, Minneapolis to Denver and then Denver to here.... Wow! That is one long day....

So I was working on getting my supplies together to go to the crop last night on Sunday and I heard a strange noise outside... I got up and looked out the front window and saw something you sould never see in the big city....

I took the picture too late to see the horse out in front pulling the carriage/buggy that was also pulling a trailer. There are Amish south of here and we see them in town occasionally. The kids love it!!

I will try and get some of the pages from last night scanned and uploaded tomorrow!

August 14th

This is the day (really night) that Nikoline will be here!! I am so excited!! It is a good thing she will be here for 10 mos. There is so much to show her of this little piece of the USA we like to call Colorado!!

We will have to go clothes shopping for school and will probably make a run up north to the outlet malls and stay at my Sister-in-laws.....

We are all so excited!! And, did I mention we are sooooo excited?!? Whoohoo!

I have to post this picture. This was taken by Kandid Creations in last November and she is awesome!! If you want to contact her to have pictures done let me know - KC is not in business anymore but the gal that took the pictures lives in our old neighborhood and still does pictures!! She is incredible.

We are Getting EXciteD!!

I got my first e-mail from our exchange student, Nikoline, who is coming from Norway! This is what I get for not answering the phone when I don't recognize a #.... she has been trying to call us for a couple days and we didn't answer :(

So, now I have to wait and see if she calls back 'cause we still don't know when she will actually be here!

We know it will be soon 'cause school starts in 3 weeks from tomorrow!! I will have 3 kids in High School this year and 2 in elementary!! I still get 1 home with me :)

I will post more later and update all the new news from Stampin' Up!! Convention was over yesterday and there is a lot of new stuff to show and tell!!

6x6 Family/Friends Scrapbook(s)

I finally made time to sit down and start my 6x6 family scrapbook. After this is caught up I will start my 6x6 "Friends" scrapbook! You know all those little photos that friends give you of their kids and their families - especially at Christmas time? Well, with the 6x6 scrapbook I have a place to store those pictures and journal so I don't forget over time who they are! Not that my memory is going or anything like that!! I have quite a few to go but it has been fun getting started!

Back from a trip North!

Well, we went back to for a long weekend and had fun! A birthday party, shopping and a wedding Saturday... Church, kids visiting friends, and stamping with new product for me and also I learned to play Guitar Hero for the first time on Sunday!! Monday was a visit to the hospital which ended up being a little frustrating but it was followed by swapping SU product with an other demo and lunch at BK (don't have one in the valley) and then a pedicure (which was badly needed) then over to Apryll's to make brownies (and more GH) and then her Body Works home party! More foot pampering!! and then Monday was over and we were on to Tuesday..... Checkup for Jason - not 100% yet on the hearing but very close.... then picked up Jason's friends, last order from Suppers, picnic lunch in F/C and back on the road home. I have 3 new cards posted using some of the new "In Colors" that will be available next month!!!! and 1 new stamp set "Sock Monkey" which is very cute!! The sock monkey is my own creation. The other two cards I CASED at my friend Linda's house and I don't know who to give credit to but I really liked the cards - enough to recreate them!!

We have been here 4 weeks as of tomorrow... I still feel disconnected. From friends, life, everything. I have always had a job to jump right into when I have moved in the past so my days right now seem almost meaningless. I have never been "just a mother" so it is really a hard adjustment. I do need to find a job and get my SU business going again if possible. But, for now I am still unpacking/settling in the rest of our household that finally made it here last Sat about 4am.

I haven't done any stampin either. It is always more fun for me to stamp with someone.... hoping I get some creative juices flowing soon....

Happy 4th of July!!!

From March to June a lot can change!

Well, I was just reading my last blog and a lot can change in a short amount of time! In March I was cruising along... working a FT job and a PT job..... happy.... then the first part of April Drew applied for, interviewed for and was offered a job 250 miles away. In the middle of nowhere! All I can say is it is actually pretty here - mountains all around and a Ski Resort less than an hour away.... God's country Colorado!! Nice town from what I can tell so far. Everything seemed to fall into place and on June 7th we headed here. Drew did the drive back and forth every weekend for about 7 weeks. I am hoping that we will get settled and back into some sort of routine again soon. I still feel like life is on hold.

Okay, I was looking on the computer to see what I could post that was current and I seem to not have anything! So, this weekend the goal will be to get some new photos to post...

This isn't Stampin' Up! but there is some artwork on the wall! Not sure why someone is ON the table.... she is a ham though :)

I have jumped in with at least 1 toe!

Okay, so everyone seems to have a blog now so I guess I will jump on the bandwagon! I will try to keep it updated but who knows how that will go - hopefully I will actually get time to "sneak" away and get some stampin' in soon!! I actually cleaned up my stamping area so I can start fresh with all new creations!! The kids are out of school for spring break over the next week so that should be fun... maybe a little more relaxing days than the norm :)