A Scrap of Life

It's flying by right now. I can't believe it's the end of Sept. already. School has been going for nearly a month. The boys birthdays have come and gone. Scouts has started for the boys and Campfire is starting next week for Carissa. We're fully immersed in the hustle and bustle of life. After some ambivelance about where Brian's career was heading, we've come to a decision and that's made looking ahead to the future easier. I'm already starting to plan for what is next. October is Halloween and I took the kids to get their costumes already. Chase will be Dr. Toxic (crazy scientist) complete with radiation green hair and eyebrows! LOL Tristan is a ghost with rattling chains and a scary mask. Carissa is going to be Aleta from Barbie Fairytopia. They're all adorable and so fitting for each child. November is Thanksgiving. Brian's working 12 hours that day so, of course, no plans for that day. Nothing to plan for, nothing to do. *sigh* ...

Bek and I have returned from our scrap retreat. We had a GREAT time. We went with a group of 12 ladies, most of whom we didn't know, and stayed in a resort home in Sunriver. What a BEAUTIFUL place. The homes were gorgeous, the weather was nice, Sunriver was absolutely charming and it was just a great weekend. We arrived Friday afternoon and did a little last-minute grocery (aka: chocolate and other munchies) shopping before heading to the house we were staying it. Bek and I were first to arrive and spent the first 1/2 hour in awe walking around this beautiful home. It was a 5 bedroom, 3 1/2 bath home, beautifully decorated and just absolutely perfect. We set up our tables and spread out our piles and piles of supplies and got to work. About an hour in we remembered that we hadn't picked up any alcohol. What's a girls weekend without a bit of girly drinks? So we headed to the store again for some alcohol. While buying our Mike's hard cranberry lemonade (yum) Bek and I g...

Carissa: Mom, I'm in love with Ian. Me: You're in love with Ian? Carissa: I'm in love with Ian. Me: You can't be in love with Ian. You're too little to be in love. Carissa: Mom, I'm not little, I'm FIVE.

I'm an awful blogger right now. Really I am. I have stuff to say but no time to say it. I didn't get to share Chase's 10th birthday or our trip to the Ringling Bros. circus. I want to but I can't. No time. I'm busy packing for my weekend away with Bek. We're headed to a girls-only scrapbook retreat in Bend for 3 days. Can you say YEAH!!!!!!!!! We leave after dropping the kids off at school tomorrow and won't be home until dinner time on Sunday. We're both so excited and definately in need of "us" time. So I'll say goodbye for now and hope to update you on all the goings-on when I return. Take care. Lots of love. Annette

Once this girl decides she wants to do something, she goes out and does it. But it has to be HER idea. No matter how much we encouraged her to try riding her bike without training wheels this summer, she didn't want to. And even when we got her to try she didn't try for long. But on Wednesday Carissa came to me and said she wanted to ride without training wheels. Within ten minutes she was cruising down the road without my help. And by today, Sunday, she had mastered starting herself from a stop, turning (albeit little turns), riding and stopping. Now she spends as much of her free time as possible outside riding her little bike around or riding with me down to the mailbox to check it. It's so stinkin' cute to see this little girl on her little tiny bike. Of course, she has a bit bigger bike that she could ride and we keep encouraging her to try. But she won't ... not until SHE wants to.

Yes, it's happened. I'm alone. Just me, no kids. They're all at school, learning and laughing and having fun and I'm sitting here wondering where all the time went. Carissa started Kindergarten this year. *sigh* She's going to school every weekday morning for 2 1/2 hours. So the good news is that she's still home in the afternoons and I'm not totally alone. But it's hard getting used to not have kidlets here when I've been with them every day for the last 10 years. So, here's Carissa at her first day of Kindergarten. The first day was actually an orientation, so us parents went to a one-hour meeting and the kids all went to the library to watch a short video and listen to books being read. I picked her up after the meeting and she was so disappointed. When I told her it was time to go she whined "But Mom, we didn't get to *DO* anything." Yep, she's way ready to go. No seperation anxiety there. She doesn't even want me to tak...

Brian and I went to the comedy club to celebrate our 12th anniversary. Mark and Jenn came along and we had a great time chatting before the show. The first comedian was great ... funny jokes and delivery. Really liked him. Then the 2nd one came along - almost all his jokes were about being high or drunk or smoking pot. Didn't really care for him. The headliner was last and he started out just like the 2nd comedian - jokes about pot or being drunk. That's when Jenn turned to me and said "We're too square". And it's true. She and I can't relate to jokes about being high or regularly drunk. We haven't been there, we haven't experienced that and we just can't relate to it. So maybe it's true, maybe I am too square. So what.

Today is Tristan's 8th birthday. 8 wonderful years with this little fellow. 8 years filled with his laughter, his smiles, his joy. He's such a wonderful, wonderful son and we are thankful every day that he is in our life. For his birthday we went bowling as a family. Tristan was on a lucky streak and by the 5th frame he already had 2 strikes and 2 spares. This from a kid who has only bowled 3 or 4 times his entire life. He and his lucky star ball rolled their way into victory with a score of 117. Grandma & Grandpa, Grandpa & Linda and Great Grandma came over that evening to celebrate over pizza, funfetti cake and chocolate chip cookies. It was just a great day and the birthday boy was happy with all the fun.

Few things throw me into fits of panic. I've dealt with all sorts of scary things without getting upset. Most recently I dealt with Tristan screaming about his mangled arm and remained calm throughout the ambulance ride, surgery, etc. But yesterday I sort of lost it. Yesterday I went to the Sheriffs Department to get fingerprinted for my concealed handguns license. The fingerprint ink and gooey stuff you use to remove it are all sorts of messy so she told me to take off my wedding ring so it wouldn't get inked. Well I did and then put it on my purse so I would remember it. Unfortunately, that's not how it happened. When I was done I grabbed my purse and left, totally forgetting that my ring was on top. About 1/2 an hour later we were in Hillsboro on our way to Grandma's house for my Dad's birthday dinner (Happy 55th Dad!!!). I subconsciously feel for my ring and then it dawns on me... it's not there. I start screaming words that you normally would never hear fro...

Just a special message to my Dad ... Happy Birthday Old Man! 55 years and counting. And here's the pics my sister requested of Dad's new bald look. Noogie ... Grandpa Torture...

I was working outside in the yard and needed to walk in a dirt area, but I hadn't put on any shoes. The kids were all on the trampoline so I thought I would use a pair of the boys sandals that were on the lawn as a bit of protection. So I slipped on Tristan's sandals - AND THEY FIT. Not fit as in "hey, I'll wear these around town" but fit as in "I can squish my feet in here without too much discomfort". But the fact is, my 7 year old son has feet nearly as big as mine. And before long I have a feeling they will be a lot bigger. *sigh* They are growing way too fast ...

Brian and I both felt uneasy. You see, we had left to go camping on Sunday and had checked the house for the cat. Not seeing her we closed the door and went on our way. But neither of us were convinced that Violet was outside and we knew that she had been eyeing Peach, Chase's pet rat (whom I secretly love ... she's very social and fun). But we had convinced ourselves that all would be well when we returned - boy, were we wrong. We walked in the house to see Peach's cage all over the floor. Her aquarium had shattered on the fall and the top portion of shelves and ramps was covered in glass and bedding debris. The good news is that Peach wasn't in the wreckage and we didn't see signs that she had become Violet's dinner. The bad news is that Peach was somewhere loose in our house. The worse news is that if we didn't find her the kids would be devestated. Now Peach is a very social animal and just before we left to go camping we had been working on call...

but now it's confirmed. See, evidence! Who are these kids? Well, they're actually street kids - my street kids. Chase and Tristan covered in dirt and wearing tattered rags for their parts in the River City Childrens Theater production of Aladdin and the Magic Lamp. The kids were so adorable. They sang songs and had their own lines to memorize. And they both did it absolutely perfect. Afterwards Tristan said he had stage fright but that it went away as soon as he got on stage. Chase, the vetran actor (this is his 2nd year), practiced extra every day just for the love of the story and the music. I sat in the front of the theater and couldn't help but get choked up. I was so proud of them and I could see that they were equally proud of themselves. I have to say that the RCCT is such a wonderful program for the kids. They go to day camp for a week where they learn their lines, songs and stage directions. Then on Friday night they have the big performance. Such a wonderful progr...

This girl is the most loving person I've ever known. She is always in the center of it all, wiggling her way between us or sitting on our laps or hanging onto our backs. She's always rubbing our arms and telling us she loves us. She's always giving hugs and sharing kisses. And if she really likes you she'll kiss you on the nose and then giggle. She's a fountain of love, this girl, and I couldn't imagine life without her.

We have had such a great summer as a family this year. (OK, except for the broken arm.) We've been able to spend a lot of time together doing fun things. We camped at the beach several times and are headed there again this weekend. We went hiking. We went biking. We played at the parks and went to movies. We swam in the pool and shot with water guns. It's just been a wonderful summer for our family and I'm sort of sad to see that it's quickly coming to an end.

If you could build a house anywhere, where would it be? Right smack in the middle of Disneyland. OK, that would take away from the magic. *sigh* Guess what I'd REALLY want is a nice house and barn on acerage in the country so I could have horses again. What's your favorite article of clothing? I'm so not a clothing horse, but I guess I would say my "booty" jeans (as Brian calls them) because they hug the booty and make it look nice. And when I look nice I feel nice. Favorite physical feature of the opposite sex? I like my men big ... a nice hunk of man (like my studly DH is) is exactly what I love. What's the last CD that you bought? I don't really buy CD's. We download what we want and burn CD's on our own. But I'd have to say my recent fave band if Five for Fighting. Where's your favorite place to be? Disneyland with the family. Or Disneyworld. I'm so not picky. Them + Me + Mickey = Happiness. Where's your least favorite place to ...

Well, we're home and still recovering from the trip. Did you know that dorm room mattresses are the cheapest quality, foam-feeling things they can find? They were HORRIBLE. Ugh. We're SOOOO glad to be back home in our nice, comfy bed in our own house, with out own stuff and our kids. Really made me appreciate home and all the comforts here. We've hardly settled in back home but decided to take the kids yesterday to finish the school shopping. I've been working on buying things as they go on sale here and there and I've done a pretty good job. But I was done with that ... I just wanted the school shopping to be finished and out of the way. So yesterday we did just that. A few pairs of pants for Carissa and Chase and a whole new bunch for Tristan, who outgrew everything from last year. New shoes all around ... tennies for them all (2 pairs for the boys, since that's all they wear) and cute dressy boots for Carissa. Finished shopping for school supplies ...

Seriously, do you ever think back on your life before kids and try to remember what you did? Because I can't remember. How did I fill my days? What kept me entertained? I've been a Mom for nearly 10 years and I can't remember life before. I wish I could because I could use some of those ideas right now. I will say that this has been relaxing. We're not sleeping much ... it's just not home. And there is no TV (although I did watch this weeks Rockstar reality episode online this morning). I've been reading, which I love. And while it's been beautiful here I just don't go outside to read because I don't want to be baked and burned in the sun. But I did finish one book and am looking forward to starting the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 book. Besides that I've just been scrabooking. I've done 4 pages and have a 5th almost done. I'll have to finish the journaling at home but the pages are designed and pasted and waiting for th...

On the 1st of each month ScrapAddict opens their galleries to the public and shows them the upcoming kits. Tomorrow is the 1st so I'm sneaking this in a bit early to show you my layouts. I've been changing things up a bit and have messing around with a new size, 8.5x11. I LOVE doing something different so expect to see much more of that from me. But for now here are this month's layouts from the kits I was assigned: BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY: GEISHA GIRL: This is an altered bookmark box and bookmarks that I made for my Grandma, who loves to read as much as I do! As always, you can visit www.scrapaddict.com (username: pixleyyy) to see the layouts and read the journaling (always the best part!).