A favorite lo and....yep....snow pics!

Another snow day....it's a nice long weekend, and I'd much rather travel to school on clean dry roads, but....enough already! lol

The florist lady trekked through the snow to our house today and brought me a beautiful planter of flowers and Birthday balloons! So beautiful and a sweet surprise from DH and the boys. :)

Here is the lo of Blossom that I wanted to share (I think I mentioned that on an earlier post). I did post it at my sb.com site too. Goal achieved! :)



And....now...snow pics...just a few from this Winter Wonderland. :) It is so pretty and it is winter...so I'll just enjoy it.

Pic from the front porch.


Back of house....so glad we live in a time where we do NOT use that outhouse! Can you imagine??? OMG!!!


I am going to post some of those sports los soon. Take care and stay warm!

Rhonda

Inspired to scrap...and snow!

More snow is headed our way for Thursday. The hard part is that it may not be too much until mid-morning...well, that means we may have the kiddos to school and then have to do an early dismissal..ugh..that's always so stressful.

I have started doing some major sorting of the boys' sports pics...want to do some work with those this week, especially if I am home.

I really need to be at school and teaching, we've had snow and sickness -- I had 5 out of 16 kiddos out last week on the one full day out of two that we were in school. Okay, I will be fine....it's still 180 days in the end. :)

I hope to work on those sports lo, scraplift a fun 'oh the places you'll go' lo, and some other ideas I've found during the My Pink Stamper blog hop. I also need to post a lo for her challenge, and add my lo of Blossom (one of our dogs, the crazy one) to my sb.com site and perhaps here.

Okay, lots of plans.....we'll see 'where I go'. :) Stay warm!

Blog Hop Fun!

I have been Blog Hopping with the My Pink Stamper Design Team this weekend...when I can fit it in....we were super busy this weekend!!! Since it's my Birthday Month I took the time to follow this super fun blog hop and at least look...I can't wait to make some of the adorable creations.

Angela's mailbox would be super cute for the kids on Valentine's Day morning. Tracy's card is just too cute with the little plaid bird. Cristi used my new cart...destined to be a fave...Country Life on a super cute card. So many talented scrappers. How do they find the time???? I must learn the secret!

Have a great evening and a great week too!

Goodies for my Kindergarten kiddos

Today was another snow day...nothing like in the rest of the country but icy roads and the constant blowing wind across them is continuuing to be a problem.

Anyway, I cleaned all my scrap stuff and pulled things I'll never use...I'm going to donate them to Children's Hospital...they can always use craft items. If you are looking to clean-up too you can always donate to a hospital or school. :)

Here are a few pics of some goodies bags I made for my Kindergarten class. I gave these to them on the first day back in January. They loved them! I got the idea from Robyn at My Pink Stamper...she makes this kind of goodie bag a lot for her kiddos and she had a great penguin for her most recent bags. I didn't have the Simply Charmed cartridge, so I used the cute little guy you see here from Create a Critter and I also added his igloo. The stamps are from Stampin' Up...and I used Stickles on the flakes and snowballs for a little added touch. The kids probably only noticed the goodies, but I think they came out really cute. I can't wait to make some for Valentine's Day.

Wherever you are stay warm...I heard today that 49 states have snow (even Hawaii does in the mountains)...only Florida does not, but I'll bet it's not as warm as usual down there...sooooo....everyone stay warm and be safe! Now, here are the pics!

Snow and Braces

K got his braces today. He seems fine about them, but as a Mom I feel bad...or is it guilt?..that he has to have them. :( Probably "Mom Guilt" (can you hear the scary music when I say that...kind of like 'duh, duh, duh')....because we all know it's my fault, right? ;)

Snow day today! Didn't do a lot at home...I wasn't home long when they called to say they could do the braces today instead of tomorrow...yahoo no missing school for him. I did work on some 50th Birthday cards we are sending to our Priest for his 50th on 1/23 which is also my Birthday. :)

I don't know if we will have another snow day or not...it hasn't stopped all day but not a lot of accumulation on the roads when we went to the dentist at 2:00, but the roads were really bad when we came home from the dentist. DH and the other two boys are at the ski slopes. May need those skis to get home!

I will scrap if home tomorrow, and hope to post some projects here on my blog this week.

Ahhh, kind of like talking to myself here...but never know who might be checking in...if you do please give me a holler in the comments if you don't mind. :)

Stay warm!

Happy New Year!

Our New Year 2011 has started out to be busy at times, but surprisingly relaxing too. I had time this weekend to scrap one Create A Critter critter for each of my students and can't wait to see their faces when they get them tomorrow. :)

The boys have been busy getting back into the school routine and skiing.

A little snow here and there but nothing to support my fear that we will be having tons of snow days and be in school until July, lol...not funny I know.

So, Happy New Year to anyone who might actually be reading this blog. Enjoy your day!

That time of the year.....

Yep, it's that time of the year...the time when I find myself at home more and wish I had time to keep up with this blog. We are on Christmas Vacation right now, but we have already had a bit of snow. I am thinking it could be a long 'snow day' filled winter around here. No matter the weather, the time at home over break with the boys has been such fun and I look forward to a great New Year in 2011. :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Jason was here! :)

Jason was here! He and Jacob made two videos. First, is a message for Grandma & Grandpa...Grandpa has to see how excited Jason gets!



Then, the new alphabet...ABBB, ABBB, ABBB or is it ADDD, ADDD, ADDD...it's hard to keep up with these two using only a handheld camera.




Enjoy! :)

Happy Birthday Jeff!

Happy Birthday! We love you and hope you had a great birthday...and now for your entertainment we have the big song! Love you, love you, love you! Enjoy the rest of your day and have a great year!

Hello in here???

Okay, so I'm not cut out to be a blogger....it's been over a year. I did enjoy reading my posts even if nobody else does. ;) lol Some things are different and some are the same...still have cluttered counters, returned as alumni for the BPS class for scrapbooking, still have those friends that text me when they are without me (but I do love them)...and let's see that's the same, so, what? nothing different? We have snow today, but it's the weekend...oh something different..not so many snow days this school year, but we were off for sick days early on...still making up for those and believe it or not the Archbishop says we must take the day off for the Super Bowl on Monday. Okay, so I have a day off..and in the end it all comes out as 180 school days..so, I'm letting that one go. ;)

I'm older, not wiser, working out more, and still dreaming of writing or at least blogging regularly. :) Enjoy your weekend!

Okay, it's not fun anymore!

We are off again for snow. With so many days left in February, it's a little bit of a bummer to think we might actually go as long as June! I don't think I've ever gone to school in June as a teacher. So, we are off, and enjoying our day together, but it's not the same. ;)

Today I cleaned the kitchen and am working on some 'must do' things..instead of the carefree scrapbooking type things I did last week. Although my couch and t.v. keep calling my name. The whole kitchen thing too a while..why is it that everything lands on those counters? We remodeled years ago to get a lot more counter space, and now they are just clutter collectors! Where does your family land stuff..where is your launching pad for the morning? I'm looking for ideas, so feel free to leave what you do in the comments section so I can find a solution to this kitchen chaos. It looks so nice when it's all cleaned up! :)

One thing I may get to today is to start preparing for a cool scrapbook class I am getting ready to start on Feb. 12th. It is by Big Picture Scrapbooking, and it is called Library of Memories. If you are a scrapper you have to read Stacey's books. She has great ideas to get yourself organized and moving through your memories without the pressure! Yahoo to that..scrapping for the joy of sharing memories instead of the pressure of 'catching up'. Which, if you have not figured it out yet, it is impossible to 'catch up' unless you have no children and start your future kids' books right now! lol Anyway, this class will be super fun and just for me and my art...woooo hooo! I'm also taking a continuing ed class for work, but notice no 'yahoo' or 'wooo hooos' for that one. :P

Ever made english muffin pizzas? They are super simple: muffins, sauce, cheese. The boys love them...it's funny to hear them cheer about something so simple, but it also makes me smile to do something they like so much.

Hope you are spending your day doing at least a few things that make you cheer because you enjoy them so much! Thanks for checking in at my blog!

Some mind wanderings...

Our 4th snow day...we will be in school FOREVER! lol

I haven't checked it out yet, but heard today about www.savethechildren.org where you can buy valentines for your kiddos based on favorite children's books. The cards are really cute (saw them on t.v.) and are 28 for $25. All proceeds go to children in the U.S. who are in need and homeless. Sounds cool and the cards really are adorable!

We went to see Mall Cop today...very "silly" funny...the kids and us adults laughed a lot...he is hilarious so it was goofy and fun.

We also went bowling before the movie and I have one thing to say...I like Wii bowling better (because I am *much* better at it on the Wii). :)

Someone plowed our driveway today, and for that I am grateful...don't know who, but they are a snow angel for sure. :)

Finally, I have friends who are in Vegas without me AGAIN...and it makes me think I need new friends! lol j/k What I need to do is change my cell number so they stop texting me to tell me about it. ;)

Enjoy your weekend and thanks for visiting my blog! :0)

Another snow day!

We are home again today...and I'm loving it! I am getting so many fun projects finished and that is good. :) I am ready to go back to school though, because if we have any more snow days that will take us into a new week at the end-of-the-year and that would not be as fun. Oh well, we can't change it so might as well enjoy it!

I finished DS2's baby book and did some cleaning out of supplies/reorganizing. The baby book is absolutely adorable...can't believe how fast they grow. Now, I'm ready to start DS3's. I will begin sorting through the pics in front of the fire as soon as I am finished here.

Last night I made this chore chart thing-a-ma-jig and wanted to share it, so I loaded the video below. If you want to see the list of notes that I used in these chore pockets, just let me know and I will send those to you. I also have chore charts for school and for summer that I have shared with some friends before....if you would like to see any of those, just let me know too. You don't have to have a Cricut to make this and you can use anything...cut envelopes in half and use those, put all the slips in a container and choose one each day, or whatever works to get the kids helping. I find that when the kids help we have a much nicer and calmer home, and we all get to spend time doing the things we love to do. Kids of any age can and should be helping out in the home...my boys have had some kind of responsibility in the house since they were old enough to make their own messes. There is nothing that says the Mom has to take care of everything in the home, and most of all I know that I am teaching my boys habits that will be best for them as they get older. Also, their wives will thank me one day! ;)

I have changed my profile pic to the left to show "our" squirrel...I was lucky enough to get a shot of him and what looks like his mohawk today! lol All this land and we never saw any squirrels for years...now this guy has been around for about a year (maybe a little more), and it's such fun to watch him. Well, time to get started on more projects...enjoy your day and thanks for visiting my blog!

Snow Day 2

It's another snow day for us. The snow from yesterday was replaced by sleet overnight, and since early this morning there have now been big, fluffy snowflakes falling. It is so beautiful if you don't have to drive in it. And...since I don't have to go anywhere I am going to spend some time throwing random thoughts your way here at my blog. Lucky you! :)

I actually accomplished a few things I wanted to do yesterday...and am very excited to only have about 3 pages left on DS2's baby book. I am up and dressed today..no sweatpants, lol...so all the guys keep asking me where I'm going (smarty pants boys!). I am craving an iced coffee like crazy...the only bad part about being snowed in...I am thinking I might actually have to invest in a little coffee maker one day. I wonder if they make one that makes iced coffee, OR...hey, maybe I could use my Mr. Coffee Iced Tea Maker...hmmmm..have to think about that one. Makes me smile just thinking it might work!

Oh, and here's a really great video to check out at BigMama's blog. It's on tying scarves. You see I am actually wearing a scarf with my completed outfit today and that's what is probably throwing the guys for a loop. I never wear them but my girlfriend makes them and I have several, so I really need to get with it and start wearing them. Anyway, I was telling another friend at school about this video on scarf tying and I'm going to share it right here: http://thebigmamablog.com/index.php/page/2/. Check it out and learn new ways to tie your scarf to look really cool or be really warm! lol There is also a video at Angie's Bring the Rain blog: http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/. Angie has declared this the year of the scarf, so that's how this all started. So, get something warm to drink, grab a scarf, go watch the videos and tie one on! lolol

Sorry I could not get the links to work for those two sites...I am going to work on figuring that out today...maybe. If anyone knows what I'm doing wrong, please let me know.

Enjoy the pictures of the beautiful snow fall out here and stay warm!

New Year...flying by!

I can't believe, well okay I really can believe, I haven't posted since the new year. I have thought about it many times, but didn't find the time. Today is a snow day, so today is the day! Happy Belated New Year to anyone who might actually be reading this blog. :)

Busy here as usual, but a snow day always makes us slow down, stay home, and spend great time at home. I truly am a 'homebody' at heart...I love being home...all my favorite people are here and all our favorite things!

Spent the morning rolling coins..that change really adds up! $89 to take to the bank and put in our vacation fund (another thing I love and it does not involve being home, but I always love coming back too!). Also had a great time laughing as I watched the boys play in the snow. More snow and ice is expected throughout the afternoon and into tomorrow, so looks good for another snow day! Yeah!

Things I want to do today:

1. Visit all my favorite blogs & scrapbook.com
2. Scrapbook!!!!! I want to finish DS2's baby book, and start DS3's.
3. Update blog and add a new picture.
4. Whatever my little heart desires! :)

I hope you are having a wonderful day and doing the things that you love in the place you love to do them...today and everyday!

Almost Christmas Break!

Well, the kiddos are 'crazy'...no not mine, but the little ones at school. Who can blame them...Christmas is coming, snow, 2 hour delay, out-of-uniform day, and today we took a ride on The Polar Express. Okay, crazy isn't the word...they are thrilled and unable to contain their little selves. I would be too if keeping up with them weren't so exhausting. After tomorrow we are off for break, so it will give me time to unwind and enjoy the holiday hustle with my own family. We have no real plans, except to relax, relax, relax until Christmas. I will have a full day wrapping at some point, but I kind of enjoy the "Mom" time that it gives me and just thinking about how the kids will love their gifts makes me...well...er...'crazy'!:)

I am so looking forward to doing some scrapbooking over the break...I even have some holiday cash to spend...guess where that will be spent? While at Michael's (which I believe may be my most favorite store in the world right now) I found a really cool book by K&Co. that is all snowflakes that you punch out, embellish (it came with some embellies too!) and hang up! I am going to make one of the boys advent boxes next week be that we are making 'flakes...then we can hang them all over and keep them up even after the Christmas decorations come down.

Okay, okay, that reminds me...I have to put the Christmas decorations up before I can take them down so I must go and get that marked off my "To Do" list. Ahhhh...the holidays!

Two posts in two days!

If you happen to stumble upon this blog please keep little baby Lilly and family in your prayers. She is the newest member of a wonderful family...daughter of a friend that I taught with years ago and still keep updated about her family via their blog. Hoping that with more and more prayers she will be better and home soon.

Here's the addy if I can't get the link: http://buildingtheark.blogspot.com

Mom's Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful, wonderful and inspirational Mom! Here's a little something from the boys...if I can figure out how to load it! Happy Birthday Mom! :)

All These Things

So it looks like I will be getting around to posting here about 2 times a year! Yahoo...what progress. lol I think about posting all the time...I have so much to share and talk about...not that anyone wants to read it, but I always think about it.:)

For example...I am working on baby first year scrapbooks for the boys...I am half-way through the DS1s book and LOVE how it is turning out. It is such a great idea from the April 2008 issue of Creating Keepsakes. If you are always behind..like most scrapbookers I know...then you will love the freedom that this project gives for you to finish a mini-book of the first year. I have so enjoyed looking through DS1s first year pics as he is in 8th grade and heading to high school next year.

Other great things on my plate...well, I am trying to really, really declutter the house...it holds me down so much and makes me feel like a failure, so I'm taking a hold of that monster and getting it under control. I am in for one major yard sale in the spring...something I said I would never do again...but I figure that if I have a yard sale it will eliminate some of the trips I will need to take to Goodwill. Also, I'm going to use the money for scrapbooking and save for a trip.

So, I finally have a great decluttering plan because I read a great book called 'It's All Too Much" by Peter Walsh (he's the declutter guy on TLC...I think that's the channel). Anyway his book is awesome and it is especially beneficial in helping me get rid of things I hold onto b/c I invest too much emotion in them. There is a quote in there about how if you keep everything then nothing is really that special...or something like that...and WOW does that make sense. :)

What else....hmmmm...well, I have to get the kids costumes and DS1 and DS2s birthdays are in November...so this is usually crunch time for me until after Christmas. I have to laugh, b/c it's a wonderful time, but crazy hectic.

This list may need to be pulled out again after the holidays and updated as a sort of New Year's Resolution list I think...some of the items will definitely still be in progress...but I'm working through them. :)

Oh yeah, most importantly I'm making sure to make time for lots more family time and not feeling guilty about not committing to other activities or events. Nothing is more important than these four (includes the big boy...DH!) guys who are loud, messy, sweet, loving, smart, and such fun.

All these things...make me smile! :)

Balance

I have been thinking a lot about balance lately. It is something that always seems to elude me. When you think about it, balance is what is needed everywhere...

Balance between eating the junk and a good diet; watching a show or working out; time with family and time for me; what needs to be done and what I want to do; job and family; sleep and getting more accomplished; time spent with each child; worrying and trusting that things will work out, etc, etc, etc. This list could go on and on.

Balance! Achieving it is impossible I guess...so now the problem becomes the balance between thinking about it and letting it go. Guess I will just have to let it go. :)