scrapbook postings

For the first time, I am posting some pages I have been scrapbooked. They are some of my favorites. I don't claim to be a great scrapbooker, my pages certainly don't look like the ones in the magazines, but they are mine and they mean something to me and my family. And it's a creative outlet for me. Plus, it is fun being a paper collector. :-) My fellow scrappers know what that means!

Da Bears...and a child for sale...

OK, so i am not a football fan, but hey, if it's my hometown, not to mention everyone in my family's favorite team, then...go Bears!!! Yes, we even sat and watched the game (some of it anyway). So excited, they haven't been in the Superbowl since 1985! and the first black coach in the Superbowl...lots of exciting stuff...

Meanwhile, here on the home front, one child for sale, one cute, smiley, 19 month old who in the space of about 1 hour:

a. knocked my contact out of my eye, it's lost forever...

b. dumped out 3/4 of a box of Cheerios

c. knocked over a lamp in the family room and the light bulb blew out

Luckily, Daddy arrive home in the nick of time, I was ready to go list him on craigslist.com...ha!

Happy Birthday (a little belated) to Casey, friend in LA, and Brian, our Tennesse friend...go check his site for the link to his new home being built...gorgeous! And happy birthday to my brother, feels weird to say that...Justin!!!! Jen and Just had a nice birthday, I think he went snowboarding and then they went out to Buca de Beppo for dinner...love that place...

I guess I'll keep C. after all...he's really cute....

Happy Birthday, Cindy!

We had a nice time celebrating Cindy's birthday last night. Good food, good fun, good family! Joe made Michelle's secret recipe Caesar Salad...it was her birthday gift to him. He was VERY excited...he LOVES that salad! He did a great job, too. The picture is Grammy with some of her grandkids (Riley, Coop, Spence & Jake) and her kahlua cake. Yum, I told you it was good food!

The other pic is Spencer with his new letters on his wall...hoping he is having some sweet dreams right now...

Hope everyone is staying warm...it is COLD here...brrr....missin' my LA weather again, I always do around this time of the year...Robin, adjusting back to Seattle after your trip to Mexico??? Hope you had a nice time!

Coop's hair

You can kind of see his hair cut, I need to take a better picture...it's so cute...he looks like a little boy! Where did my baby boy go? Yesterday was Cindy/Grammy/Mom's birthday! Happy Birthday!!! We are having the family over for dinner tonight to celebrate. She spent her birthday in Monterey and Carmel. Lucky lady! So, needless to say, I have some cleaning to do.

Happy weekend!

Flashback Friday

Here are today's flashbacks...Spencer was 22 months (April 05) and he got so sick with the croup that he was rushed in an ambulance to Valley Children's Hospital in Fresno and we spent the night there. I HOPE we never have to go back. (I mean, it's a great hospital, but NO FUN to be there with your kids!) Cooper was 2 months away from being born.

So back to 2007 ....it's back to work for me...less blogging...back to MOPS, back to grading papers, getting up early, no more sleeping in until 10 for Coop. He was NOT a happy camper on Monday! Spencer had a good time getting back to school. I think he missed his friends! He is big on practicing his "homework", a book I bought him to practice writing his ABC's. We're working on his name now. However, he is stubborn and sometimes will accept my help, and sometimes will only do it" all-by-myself", said in a little chant. My independent man...:-)

More babies...

Wow, baby love! My college roommate Ashley and her family welcomed baby Ella on Jan. 5! Congrats! An old work friend, Becky, welcomed baby Camille on Dec.30. Kelly, from Bible study, welcomed baby Cayden on Dec.29. Wow! So excited! And of course, Lily, on Jan. 4. Had to mention all the new babies in our world. Congrats to all the families!!!! Tell me...does baby fever ever go away?
P.S. Coop got a hair cut! Bye bye mullet! Pictures coming soon!

Going back to Cali...no, really work....

**Enjoy these recent pics! The first is the proud daddy (Chip) of Lily in the middle! The other guy is Ryan, another Merced friend!

...my break is almost over...I had a great time at home...Here is my Christmas Break in numbers:

# of days off= 18

# of visits to Santa = 3

# of Christmas parties = 3

# of birthday parties = 2

# of babies born = 2 (waiting to hear about the 3rd)

# of movies watched = 3 (good for me!)

# of "adult-type" books read = 0 (boo)

# of kids books read = too numerous to count

# of magazines read = 6

# of road trips = 3

# of pages scrapbooked = 8

# of pizzas eaten = too many to count

# of days wore pj's all day = 3

# of kisses and hugs received = millions!

She's here!

Baby news: Lillian Emily (to be called Lily) is here! She was born yesterday to our friends Chip and Vicki. She's a gorgeous, big baby (9 lbs, 6 oz...if I am correct). Joe and I drove down to LA, picking up Ryan on the way, and surprised Chip and Vicki at the hospital in Fullerton! They were excited! I think Chip needed that, it had been a long night for them...We swooped him out and went to dinner so Vicki could rest. It was a great time! I am so excited for them! Welcome to parenthood!
And then Joe and I drove home that night, after a quick visit in Burbank with Ryan and Jillian. It was snowing so hard on the grapevine, which we didn't even realize for a while. We thought it was just hard rain, but no, I finally looked to the side and saw snow! Wow, was it windy, too! We saw police escorts on the other side, and realized we probably had just missed having an escort. We were tired, but happy to be home at 3 AM. And of course, my lovely son Spencer, who I missed on our trip to LA, woke up early today...so I am looking forward to naptime, to say the least!
Happy birthday also to Tyler, Spencer & Cooper's cousin. And Margo, Cooper's precious babysitter....Jan. 4 is a great day to be born!:-)

Skating Fever!!!

Wow, 2 posts in one day...that'll all change when I go back to work next week...

Why am I posting again? To show pictures of my little man roller skating (thanks to Grammy and Grampy for the the gift!)...how is that I have a child old enough to roller skate??? Thank heaven for elbow pads....

Visiting!

We had a great visit from our friends, the Schreibers, yesterday. They were on their way back home to Oregon after spending the holiday with family in LA. Nic and I used to work together at Westlake Elementary. Their son Riley, almost 2, had a lot fun with the boys. They immediately started playing, and Riley was happy to roam free. The boys got into Spencer's bed for this cute picture. I think they wanted a slumber party!

The Schreibers love their new home in Portland area, and speak so highly of the area that it makes Joe and I want to move! We will have to go up and check it out. Miss you guys! (Nic, get your blog up and running again!)

My boys are roaming pretty free and wild right now. We have been l-a-z-y this week and haven't done much, other than play, play, play. I do think they are missing school and Margo's right about now. BUT they have playing together a lot lately, and that makes me happy! Love my boys!

Ten on Tuesday

Ok, so this week's Ten on Tuesday is your Ten New Year's Resolutions...

There has kind of been a backlash of sorts against New Year's Resolutions...I was reading that people get upset that they can't keep them, and most people end up breaking them by Feb. So instead of resolutions (which I have never been very good at anyway), I want to think of them as goals. Goals I want to to try to incorporate in my everyday life...

Here's mine...

1. More time with God (devotions a daily priority)

2. More date nights with Joe

3. Be more organized

4. Scrap more...at least a page a week

5. Add some new recipes to my cooking

6. Stop and smell the roses

7. Read more, not magazines, not parenting books, but my own reading

8. Hmm....I think I need to stop at 7! OK, I'll keep you updated on how I am doing!

What are YOURS????

**The pictures are from our New Year's Eve...Coop with his Aunt "Chelle" and our family picture with our boys not posing...:-)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here's wishing you a wonderful 2007! Can't believe it's here! We celebrated pretty low-key...we went to an event at church and the boys played in the bounce houses and ate pizza with their cousins. By 8:30, Joe and I were ready to go and we went by both sets of grandparents houses to say happy new year. Then we did sparklers at home and put the boys to bed. I was actually in bed around 11:30, but I got up at midnight to watch the ball drop with Joe. It's going to be a great year for us, I can feel it! And for you, too!

I haven't uploaded my New Year's Eve photos yet, so I am leaving you with a pic that sums up what I wish for you....