A Scrap of Life

My job is really fun most of the time. The kids are great and I really enjoy teaching them. One activity we do every year is Wacky Wednesday. It's based off of the Dr. Seuss book of the same name. On this day we instruct the kids to dress up in their wackiest looks and we have wacky activities. For instance, we painted on paper taped to the wall and painted with toy cars, blocks, potato smashers, etc. Then we have a wacky snack... this year it was worms in dirt (gummy worms in pudding with smashed chocoalte graham crackers on top). Usually it's a really fun day... unless everyone forgets about it. And this year they did. It was in the monthly newsletter but by the middle of the month most parents had forgotten. So the only ones in our class dressed up for Wacky Wednesday were the teachers. So I looked rather ridiculous all on my own, dressed in pants with shorts on top of them, mis-matched socks, crazy hat and gloves and socks pinned all over my shirt. LOL Oh well, maybe next y...

I finally got off my duff and found a project for Carissa's birthday party with her friends. She invited a group of girls over for a crafting birthday party. They made these cute bottlecap necklaces to start out with, the moved on to our big project - these adorable little owls! The girls worked really hard on their owls. They chose their fabrics then sewed the bellies and wings on. Next were the pupils and beaks, then the eyes. This took the girls a good amount of time, as it was the first big sewing project many of them had done. Then they brought them to me and I sewed the edges together while they munched on cupcakes and cookies & cream ice cream. Finally it was time to stuff them and sew up the final edge. In the end, they left with these adorable little owls, each just a little different. While several girls didn't show up for the party, the ones that did seemed to have a good time. I was so thankful for my mother, who stayed to help with the party. I could...

Holy moly, I can't believe my baby is 10! Carissa celebrated her birthday with family. That meant lots of pink, foofy girl wrapping. She got lots of craft kits, some of her favorite things right now, clothes and money for riding lessons and boots. She was happy to be the adorable little center of attention. And had lots of fun with everyone. She chose nachos for dinner (though the rest of us had tacos) and enjoyed a bit of double-decker marble cake with chocolate frosting. All in all, a pretty great birthday for her... until she came down the flu the next day. Oops! Sorry for sharing the germs guys!

Carissa has loved horses since she was little. She's not in the least bit afraid of them and took riding lessons when she was just a little tyke of 4 or 5. She hasn't really ridden much since then but it's not for lack of trying. She has been asking and asking for a horse for years. Once she realized that wasn't going to happen she started asking and asking for riding lessons. I hoped it would pass, though I had a feeling that maybe it wouldn't (being a horse-crazy girl myself, I understand. I still love horses and want one of my own too). When Christmas rolled around you know what she asked for... riding lessons. I figured it was about time she got them and Santa delivered, bring her some lessons. She got more lessons for her birthday and now rides twice a month and attends one horsemanship class a month. First off is the prep work. Grooming, picking hooves and saddling up. She's working on it all but still needs help, especially with getting that sadd...

Chase had an opportunity to participate in his second Crossing Over event, a ceremony in which Cub Scouts are officially transitioned over to Boy Scouts. The first time Chase himself was crossing over into Boy Scouts. The time, Chase was part of the ceremony. To be part of the Crossing Over ceremony, you have to be a member of the Order of the Arrow. It's called the "honor society" of the Boy Scouts, but it's designed to help the older boys give more service to Scouting and to participate in activities aimed at the older boys. Chase was inducted into the Order of the Arrow last spring so this was his first year being eligible to help out at the ceremony. Just a few weeks before Chase had gone to a special Order of the Arrow campout to start making the pieces of his Native American costume. He made the ribbon shirt, belt and medicine man bag and purchased the moccasins. The headpieces the boys used are all owned by the troop. Chase served as the medicine man for the ce...

Carissa has danced for the last few years, but this year she left her Dance 4 Fun class and instead chose to join Next Step , the new youth dance team in Scappoose. She had her first competition in January. It was quite a day. We woke up bright and early (5:30am... *snore*) and rushed right to the local high school. Miss Riss had slept in her curlers all night, so she'd have curly hair to dance in. All morning long she looked like this... The kids practiced once on the big gym floor and then loaded the bus for the ride to the competition. I went along as a chaperone and team Mom, but rode with my good friend Melinda. Once we arrived the chaos was on. First up was practice on the competition floor. We got a whole 8 minutes per team. Scappoose has two teams, one for the younger elementary kids and one for the older. This is the adorable little kiddos of the Mini Makers team during their practice time. After practice we headed back to our team rooms and grabbed some snacks to eat. A...

Wednesday, January 5, 2011 - Brian had just been transferred to the marine division and was scheduled to have the day off. In the end, however, he had a court case and then stayed at work for a jet ski training class that would never happen. I was at work myself, then came home around lunchtime. A few hours later I got a call from a good friend. She asked if I had heard from Brian. Those words sent a chill down my spine, as her husband is in law enforcement and we both know that that question can't mean good things. I told her I hadn't and she asked if I'd heard what was happening in Rainier. It was then that I learned that Rainier Police Chief Ralph Painter had been shot and killed in the line of duty. I admit that I was numb for a while. I talked to her on the phone for a few minutes more and then got off. I sat around for a bit as the news sank in. I tried to give Brian some time, knowing that since he was on duty he was probably there on the scene. I eventually gave in ...

I've got to admit, I've been TERRIBLE about posting on the blog lately. It's now basketball season and I've got 2 boys playing with seven total practices a week and three total games a week. Then there's Carissa's dance team, riding lessons, Taekwondo for all three and Boy Scouts. Needless to say, it's been difficult just to find enough time at home to do the laundry or the dishes. I don't have much to share in the way of pictures right now, so I'll share layouts instead! Over Christmas break I rekindled my spark with scrapbooking. I've already done 12 pages this year. Wahoo! Anyways, here's some of my recent work. Thanks for looking.