A Scrap of Life

Ever had one of those days? You know, the days where you can't seem to crack a smile for the life of you. A day where nothing has gone wrong, but then again nothing seems right. A day where everything is just off in your world? Well that's today for me. Nothing's gone wrong. Nothing happened. Everyone is doing great. But I'm just in a funk. And to top it all off, Brian is too. So we're being in a funk together. The kids seem oblivious to the whole thing. We keep asking them to speak a little quieter or go in another room to play with the loud toy, but they just don't get that we could really use a little bit of peace. Today is one of those days. Thankfully, there's always tomorrow.

I'm marking this down for posterities sake ... it may possibly be the last time I'm able to shout this, so ... I WAS CARDED TODAY!!! I went out for dinner with a few of the Cub Scout Moms today as sort of a goodbye to one of them, who is moving in a few weeks. I ordered a margarita and lo and behold the wonderful waiter asked for my ID. I turn 32 in a week so I was pretty thrilled to be carded. Wahoo! I don't look as old as I feel! LOL

So I've started a blog challenge over at ScrapAddict. Just a little weekly thing to get us all blogging and hopefully something we can transfer over to layouts in the future. So here's challenge #1: ABOUT ME favorite color: PINK! word I most liked to be described as: kind best meal I cook: Ham with pineapple, corn & potatoes favorite dessert: Double Chocolate Brownies favorite book: Anything by Elizabeth Lowell or Christine Feehan favorite outfit: Old Navy jeans and aqua top from Kohl's usually in bed by: 12pm (with Brian) or 2am (when scrapping) favorite sounds: my kids laughter I wish: Brian didn't have to work What I crave: Quiet "me" time Surround me with: love

Well, I know that it's probably not exciting to everyone else, but it's awfully exciting for me. I got my copy of this book, Kodak's "Scrapbooking Your Favorite Photos", in the mail today. They sent me a complimentary copy as I have 2 scrapbook pages in this book. So I grab the book and open the first page, only to find that one of my layouts graces the title page of the book. Just the title and authors name and then *my* layout and name. I was so surprised and pleased that they thought to give it that extra bit of attention. And it happens to be a LO that is meaningful to me too. So I was doubly thrilled. Anyways, that's my excitement for today. Thanks for letting me share. By the way, here's the 2 LO's that are in the book. The first is on the title page.

Today Carissa had dress rehearsal and pictures for ballet. When we arrived at the dance studio it was utter chaos ... people everywhere, stuff everywhere and a pile of the rudest people ever. And to top it all off, there was no AC and it was HOT! But we managed to pull through. Carissa got her photos taken by the photographer as well as by me (and me, and me, and me ... I took a lot of pictures! LOL). I got some REALLY cute ones. She was so beautiful and happy. And to top it all off, the boys were absolutel ANGELS, sitting quietly and enjoying the math worksheets I printed off for them before we left home. It was chaotic, yes, but there's beauty in these chaotic moments ... And here's her with some of her friends from preschool:

That's what we did today ... played hookey from our life and just went out and did out own thing. We all needed a day away so that's exactly what we did. We took the boys out of school today and headed south past Salem to the Enchanted Forest. Brian and I both went to this mini theme park with out families when we were kids but we hadn't taken our children since Tristan was a baby. We had a great time! It scored high on the cheesey-ness scale, especially after Disneyland, but the kids didn't care. They enjoyed the fairytale land with displays that are a good 40+ years old (including the photo below - one of my faves as a child, "The Crooked House"). They loved the "old woman who lived in a shoe" slide that I loved when I was a child (see photo below). They loved the ridiculously cheesey version of The Princess and the Pea performed in the theater. They loved the old west town and light and water show. And they loved the rides too (see bumper cars pho...

It's happened ... season finale's have begun. It started with the upset of Terry on Survivor ... my all-time favorite Survivor and I wish he would have won. But I'm over that. I'm sniffing because of Grey's Anatomy. Now, if you don't follow this show you probably won't get while I'll all sniffed up about it. First off was Doc ... who doesn't cry over a dog being put to sleep? Then it was Denny. Sheesh, I was just seeing hope for him and Izzy and had a "happy ever after" scenario running in my mind, but alas the guy has to die. Then it's the dialogue the whole episode - so much of it meaningful in so many ways. And then Meredith has to go and do it with Derrick. Now if she and he had just pounced on each other and smooched a bit I wouldn't have an issue. Then she goes out, tells Finn goodbye and another "happy ever after" scenario with Derrick. But no, they couldn't stop there. Sheesh. And now I'm going...

First off, a special shout out to my Mom who is celebrating her first mothers day in her new home in Costa Rica. HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!! Missed having you to call. Hope you get a phone in soon. xoxoxo As for my Mothers Day, it was wonderful. First of all, it was PERFECT weather and that just made it all feel perfect. Brian carefully instructed the kids to *quietly* wake him up in the morning so I could sleep in. He went and got Chase from his friends house where they had a slumber party the night before. Then he and kids snuck down to Fred Meyer to grab me some gifts. They woke me up at 9:45 (I rarely sleep past 8am so this was a huge treat to me) so that I could have pancakes made with love by Brian. On the table was a vase of roses, daisys and carnations that were beautiful! And inside the vase were 2 dragonfly stakes that I had seen at Fred Meyer and mentioned to the kids (YEAH for remembering kiddos!!!). And to top it off they gave me one of my favorite (but not often eaten because of...

I've been so busy that it seems like I haven't been able to update as often. Here's what's up in our household: All here is well. I'm so busy with the kids activities, but at least we're nearly 1/2 way through the baseball season. Both are doing well and Tristan is hitting better most of the time. YEAH! Today was ballet and Carissa got her costume. It's pretty cute and she looks adorable! Got to figure out how to put her hair in a bun though ... that's going to be a tough one for pictures and the recital. Lots of hairspray and bobby pins, I guess. That darned haircut is so cute but so hard to work with sometimes. Today I arranged for Carissa to start riding lessons. We visited a gentleman in town who gives english riding lessons. I figured it's better to start her english so she learns how to grip with her legs and such. Plus the guy who does the training is very good with kids and has the sweetest lesson horse. We're not starting those until Ju...

OK, so I'm a little late here. NDS (National Scrapbook Day for those of you not in the "know") was Saturday and it was the start of an entire month of NSD activities at ScrapAddict.com. I've been busy, busy, busy trying to get layouts done and complete challenges. Here's a few of my pages from the last 2 days ... (and I know there's not one of Tristan here but I'm working on it right now and will post it when done.)

This is my make-mommy-smile moment from yesterday - Tristan said that his class was talking about what makes their mothers fantastic and he said I'm fantastic because when we're not busy we get to sit and cuddle up together on the couch as much as we want. AWWWWW. Melted my heart! I love those quiet and cuddly moments too! Then again ... today he came home and said they were talking about it again and his 2nd reason why I'm fantastic is because I drive him to Grandma and Grandpa's house! LOL Thankfully I love the kid to death so I'll forgive him for loving me for being his chaeuffer. :)

I'm savoring the last moments of Carissa in preschool. She has such a wonderful time at Tinkertime preschool and loves Teacher Theresa and Miss Kim. Plus she's learned so much ... the most important being the zoo-phonics which have helped Carissa learn to read. Last night was the Tinkertime Science Fair. Carissa and her friend Daphne were on a team together to try to determine the most common eye color amongst those at the science fair. They loved this because they got to glue M&M's on their chart that match the eye colors. So we had some nice piles of brown, blue & green M&M's. Of course, they munched the leftovers after the experiment had been completed. By the way, blue eyes won out though brown eyes weren't far behind! The poor green eyes came in way behind. Today I got to be the teacher helper at preschool. This is usually done by Miss Kim, but Teacher Theresa had other plans today so Miss Kim was teacher and I became assistant. I had don...

Today I went to sign Carissa up for Kindergarten. What a bittersweet moment. I'm so happy the she's going to Kindergarten next year and she's certainly looking forward to it. But on the other hand, she is my baby and I can't believe she's going to Kindergarten. Not to mention, I've gotten very used to spending time with her, to having her home with me and tagging along everywhere together all day. It's only 1/2 days in Kindergarten, so I'll still have her home in the afternoons. But it's the start of big changes ahead for her. I know she's ready. I'm just not sure I am.