Welcome to the Jungle!

Thought for Thursday!

2011-08-18T11:40:00.000-07:00

I believe that says it all for today!!! Enjoy!!

Catching up....

2011-08-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

ok, so I'm a bit of a flake....I finally admit it....guess I can't deny it! O well, live and learn!! So, I have some catching up to do...

For Treat Yourself Tuesday (yesterday)...I got two doses of treats!! I got to have lunch and laughs with my teaching partners Donna and Karen...we had a yummy salad and fruit, and lots and lots of laughs while we prepared for the return to school. Wow-I can't believe in one week I report back and in 13 days....kids!!! Crazy how fast the summer goes...it sounds so cliche but it's so true...I have no idea how 2 months have gone by already!! :) Anyways, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with my girls.

My 2nd treat was going to dinner and yogurt with the hubby...we didn't have our kids (Ben was at a friend's, Tay was at college group, and DJ is at my in-law's)...so when Donald got home, we decided to go get a bite. Very rare for midweek for us. So we hit up Jalapeno's for Taco Tuesday and then I got yummyyyyyyy Yogurtland. We also ran into a couple of friends and enjoyed some time with them. It was very nice! And what a great treat!

I have to say that I am really enjoying treating myself on Tuesdays...it has made me stop and put forth an effort to value myself-even if it's just a taco and yogurt!! I hope that you are at least attempting to treat yourself! :)

Sorry---no pictures from either event. Boo!!

Thanks for stopping by and please return tomorrow for my Thought for Thursday!!!

Treat Yourself Tuesday!

2011-08-02T21:25:00.000-07:00

OK, so this is going to be a pretty odd treat, but here goes....my treat was .....organizing my closet!! I know, I know, I'm crazy! Who in their right mind actually considers working around the house a treat? well, I do...mainly because the clothes rod on my side of the our closet broke about 2 weeks ago, taking down the shelf with it. See pictures... not pretty....

So, we had to wait about a week for the homeowner to come fix it, which meant piles of clothes everywhere in our room. We were traversing mountains of clothes for about 5 days...it got old real fast. Once it was repaired, LAST Saturday (as in the Saturday before last), I had planned to jump right in and put it all back together. Needless to say, that didn't happen right away. I started working on it last week, then life happened, and finally! Today, my side of the closet is neat, organized, and quite nice (if I do say so myself!). So here's the final result....

It doesn't look like much-but I'm proud of it!!

The huge pile of clothes for donating....I think I'm getting rid of 20 shirts/blouses, 10 pairs of pants, 4-5 pajamas, and many other various items. BTW-the closet cleanout led me to a dresser cleanout as well. I even went through my jewelry! It felt so good to purge!!

A nice shot of our bed-that we can finally see again!!

Just being able to sleep in a clean room is treat enough for me today! What are you treating yourself with today? :)

Thought for Thursday (and follow up to Tuesday treats!)

2011-07-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

Hello! So, today I found a really cool quote that I enjoy....I had heard it before, but forgot about it....

The best way out is always through....Robert Frost

I love this one because it reminds me that we all go "through" trying times. Times that we wish we could just get "out" of. Ever heard yourself saying (or thinking)..."I just wanna be done with this and move on!!!" Or, "I just wish this would be over". I know I have. I have been going through some of those times a lot recently and as I have been forced to rest, stay on the couch, stay off my leg, etc, and as I have been forced to re-evaluate some of my life situations....I have been grumbling. I have been asking God to please just "get me out" of this situation. I have been calculating in my mind how to "get out". Perhaps I should have been asking God to get me "through"...to see me "through" and help me focus on the end of journey and the lessons to be learned. I realize now that in order to be a better person and to have a better relationship with God and others, I must go through these trials...they teach me to rely on the One who is in control. The One who see the big picture--way beyond my trials today. They teach me to think of others who might be going through similar trials, or even worse (which makes my problems seem so small). They teach me that today is not the only day I have and perhaps I need to be thinking beyond today. I have already seen evidence that there is something better on the other side. These little trials I've been going through have resulted in deeper friendships with those I care about, deeper relationships with my family, and a deeper relationship with God. And, for the cherry on top, I think I've got a bit of a better attitude! Have you ever thought about your trials as a way "through" to something better waiting on the other side?

P.S. I promised pics of my "Treat Yourself Tuesday". I got the opportunity to go to lunch with my dear friend Jenny. We went to Ruby's . What a treat!! :) And, yes, I got myself a 50/50 shake. Imagine that-2 treats in one day!! :)

Treat Yourself Tuesday!!

2011-07-26T10:05:00.000-07:00

Hello! I'm starting a new trend I like to all "Treat Yourself Tuesday". I've decided that us hard working moms, sisters, aunts, cousins, friends, etc...don't treat ourselves enough! We work hard for our families and friends, so I think it's ok to stop every now and then and treat ourselves...whether that's with dessert, a special food we like, crafting time, reading time, a mani/pedi, whatever....it really doesn't matter "what" we treat ourselves with, it just matters that we slow down and pay a little attention to ourselves and carve out a little time for the things we love. I am fully aware that this cannot be an all-day thing, nor can it happen every day- life and responsibility call....but I am soooooo looking forward to few minutes of "me-time". So, with that in mind, I'm going to find something to treat myself with today and I'll post a picture by the end of the day. This begs the question...what will you treat yourself with today? :)

Thought for Thursday

2011-07-21T10:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, so today I stumbled upon an inspiring quote that I thought I'd share...

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."
— C.S. Lewis

I love this because I am at a time in my life where I am doing some serious rebuilding, rethinking, and reorganizing in my home, my career, and my life. I feel like for so long I have had the same goals and dreams (most of them still unobtained), and it encourages me to think that, even at 38, I could adjust my dreams and goals.

For example, my daughter Taylor is 18 and is headed off to college in New York in one month. I have had to adjust some of my dreams and goals for her...but I'm so excited for the opportunities and experiences that lay ahead for her! It's also been nice trying to help her shape her goals and dreams.

I have also had a couple of tough years at school, so I have been rethinking some of my teaching strategies and methods. I am encouraged today to know that it is okay to reset my teaching goals. I've spent a lot of time recently thinking about school, seeking amazing counsel, and praying about my future in teaching. Some of my goals are having to be revamped, some completely discarded, and some will remain in place. All in all, I know that God is in control and that He has the best of intentions for me as part of His plan. So, if the goals and dreams that I set in place never come to fruition, I can rest in the knowledge of God's sovereignty and that I can always set another goal or dream a new dream!!

Anyone out there feeling encouraged by this thought today?

I'm back!!

2011-07-19T11:09:00.000-07:00

OK, so my friend Cathi just asked me to look something up on her blog, and I accidently went to my blog first....surprised I was to find that I have not blogged since August of 2009!!! What a tragedy of epic proportions...ok, not really, but I was taken a little aback. I originally started blogging awhile back, mainly to read my sister-in-law Lindsey's blog, as well as my other sisters' blogs, and then to keep the family and friends apprised of my somewhat crazy, somewhat ho-hum life. At times, it felt more like a chore, but most times I enjoyed sharing a bit of myself. I always liked going back to read what I posted. I guess somewhere over time, I lost my desire or got too busy, or something to continue with blogging...perhaps I was too adventurous, trying to blog daily, or trying to find something "catchy" to blog about weekly. I don't know why I stopped. I only know that today, for some reason, I am okay with posting again! Funny how life works...

Anyways, there is a lot to blog about and perhaps I'll try to relive the last two years bit and bit and recall as much as I can. Or perhaps I'll just let it go and start anew.....I have yet to decide.

So, today, after reading Cathi's post, I read that she posted an amazing "Real Woman's List". It spoke to me, and so I stole it from her blog....I hope it speaks to whoever reads this...probly no one, but I like the feeling of knowing it's out there, and I'm back!! :)

A Real Woman HAS..
A nest egg for personal use
Something perfect to wear if an employer or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour
A youth she is content to leave behind
A set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, a hammer, and a black lace bra
A black dress and a white blouse
One friend who always makes you laugh
and one who lets her cry
A good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family
Eight matching plates, goblets and a recipe for a meal that will make her guests feel honored...

A Real Woman KNOWS...
How to fall in love
How to quit a job
How to confront a friend without ruining the friendship
When to try harder.... and when to walk away
How to have a good time at a party she'd never choose to attend
That she can't change the length of her calves, or width of her hips, or nature of her parents
How to live alone... even if she doesn't like it
Whom she can trust. whom she can't, and why she shouldn't take it personally
Where to go....be it to her best friend's kitchen or a charming inn...when her soul needs soothing
What she can and can't accomplish in a day, a month , a year

I am so THANKFUL & BLESSED that my heavenly Father loves and accepts me for who I am and not who I could be!
WHAT or WHO renews YOUR soul??

God is good all the time.

Heather

Wordless Wednesday- Camping!

2009-08-19T15:49:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday (on Thursday)-Magic Mountain!

2009-06-25T09:19:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday-Disneyland!

2009-06-17T18:38:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday--Stop and look around...

2009-06-10T09:06:00.000-07:00

OK, so I love that my cousin Lance's wfe, Kristen, does "Wordless Wednesday", so I'm stealing it. It's right up my alley (yeah, right). Anyways, this little field is on my way to school each morning and one day I noticed how everything was just "popping" with color. So, I stopped the next day and took a picture..so much for being wordles, I'll do it better next time, I promise!

BTW-the colors are true-I did not edit this photo. Crazy, huh?

4th grade Sacramento Trip

2009-05-25T10:34:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Yes, it's true...I'm back from Sacramento with my class. Here's a fun little digital scrapbook for your viewing pleasure!

News on the forum front...

2009-04-03T18:07:00.000-07:00

Well, life is pretty boring in my gigantic forum world I joined. I actually think it's TOO big. I posted a couple of things and responded to a couple of things, got a few responses, but overall, I was pretty bored with it. I guess if I had the time to log in every day and become "friends" with these people, it would have been better, but I had a hard remembering to go on, and then finding the time. And it really truly is like a sorority and I did not feel entirely welcome. They politely answered my questions and that's about it. O well. One experiment down, on to a new adventure!

On the positive side, the scrapoholic in me discovered a new site to look at fun scrapping things and possibly make a purchase or two. I get a weekly "deal" email from the site and they offer ALOT of stuff. Not that I need anything...see previous post..but one can always window or "web" shop, right? BTW-I'm almost done organizing the scrappin' joint (my new name for my bench)..it's turning out pretty nice! :) I'll try to post new pics this weekend (after my last technology class, which, by the way, is tomorrow and I haven't even STARTED the projects that are due tomorrow). Maybe I needed to find a procrastinators forum?!?!?!?!?

Gettin a jump on Spring Cleaning

2009-02-28T11:24:00.001-08:00

Hey all- well, today I actually scheduled a day for "scrapbook area clean-up". Take a look at these pics and you'll see why.....

Part of my issue is I am a total scrapoholic. I have admitted before that I had an illness and it has gotten totally out of hand. I cannot believe that I even have a desire to buy more stuff! The other issue is that this are also serves as my "office" space, it's where I store all of my school stuff, my personal things, and family paperwork. So, you can (hopefully) see how this small space can become crowded quickly, especially when you don't take the time to keep it up! So, that's where I stand right now. I've been working for about 2 hours now and this is what is looks like. (Believe it or not, it was actually worse when it started!) I'l be sure to post more pics when it is finished and beautiful once again! :)

P.S. Not much happening in the "forum" world. I posted a few things and haven't gotten any response. It is a very large forum and apparantly some of the people have been on there for years and they all know each other...it's kind of like trying to break into a high school clique right now. But, I'll keep plugging away and see where it gets me!

Scrapbook.com!

2009-02-21T15:46:00.000-08:00

Hello again! I mentioned in my last post that I joined a web forum called scrapbook.com, and boy did I get more than I bargained for! This website is not only a forum for discussion, it's a SUPER store (overwhelmingly huge), a discount spot, and a great place for tips and ideas. I logged in for a bit today and got a little overwhelmed with the offerings, in a good way. I particularly enjoyed one post called "each one, teach one", where one member posted all the links she could find to great tips for jsut about anything scrapbooking. There is something in there for everyone-all your questions answered. I loved it so much I made it one of my favorites. If you would like to see my "place", it's at www.scrapbook.com and my user name is "justaddyou", which happens to be the same name as my etsy shop. Anyways, i got a little excited and decided to blog about it, and now I'm signing off because I'm sick and I wanna go lay down. have a great weekend!

Back to School!

2009-02-13T14:53:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I am back in school for next 9 weeks to "clear" my credential. I have to take two classes in order to renew it. They are mostly online and meet once a month in Azusa (woo hoo!) on Saturdays. I'm taking a computer class for teachers and a class on learning difficulties in students. They both seem pretty interesting. As part of my computer class, I had to join a forum of my choice, and start participating in discussions, then I have to blog about my experience. I joined "scrapbook.com" (of course) and starting posting today. It's pretty easy to navigate and I enjoy the discussions. It's going well so far. The good news is, most of the work is pretty easy and I'll be done on April 4th! Yippee!

25 things about me...

2009-02-06T18:02:00.000-08:00

OK, so I was tagged on Facebook and decided to do this. But I realize that not all of you are "FB'ers", so I'm posting it here also. I'm not tagging anyone here, so you can do it if you want. If not, o well. Enjoy!

1. I was raised in a Christian home and grew up going to church. I had many "camp-high"experiences, but I have to say that I didn't really surrender my life to the Lord until late in High School. Kinda sad that I can't remember the date or year, but all I know is, I've been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. And that's enough for me.

2. I teach 4th grade at a private Christian school, which is something I swore I would NEVER do. Until this opportunity came along...and I love it.

3. I used to be a part of the "Young Americans", a touring singing and dancing group. Those two years (before marriage and kids) were the highlight of my young life. I loved everything about it.

4. I know how to run a light board for theatre. (something the YA's taught me)

5. I've performed in a dinner theatre in Boyne Highlands, in northern Michigan. The BEST summer of my life.

6. I've been to the Grand Hotel in Mackinaw Island where "Somewhere in Time" was filmed. We sipped lemonade on the long porch and overlooked Lake Michigan. Then we ran across the grass screaming "RICHARD" as loud as we could. Yes, also with the YA's.

7. I have had 2 REALLY serious love relationships in my life. One with a boy I thought for sure I would marry, and one with the MAN I am married to now. By far, the second was the best decision.

8. I have three children, a daughter who is almost 16 (yikes!), and two boys who are 13 and 12. I had them VERY young, but now I wouldn't change a thing. I love them all and I love our life.

9. My husband is a 6'5" black man....so don't mess with me or my kids. I like to call him "Big Poppi".

10. I am very close to my family. I have 3 sisters and 2 brothers (one of whom, I'll admit, I'm not close to AT ALL). I have 7 nieces and nephews who are quite possibly my favorite kids to be around. **correction....I apparantly have 11 nieces and nephews...not my proudest day...

11. I have several close friends, one that I could not live a day without talking to, one that I've known since I was two years old, and most of them don't even live by me. I have two close friends from High School (both in AZ), and one from college (lives in Rancho Cucamonga). They're my girls, I love them, and I couldn't imagine life without them.

12. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE chocolate, mint, and caramel. Not all together, of course.

13. Favorite ice cream? Thrifty's Double Chocolate Malted....you can only get it at Rite Aid and I have been known to drive several miles out of my way to find a Rite Aid and get some.

14. I am a scrap-o-holic. Not in the always scrapbooking sort of way, but in a "I can't buy enough paper and supplies" kind of way. I have a workbench in the garage that is literally covered in scrapbooking stuff.

15. I am a non-project-finisher. I am famous for starting projects and not getting them done. I probably have 10 scrapbooking projects started that are on the bench (see #14) just waiting for to pick them. Can you hear the voices? "Pick me! Pick me!" They haunt me.

16. I love my bed. 'nuff said

17. Wow-25 things is hard. I can assembly ANYTHING. BBQ's, bikes, beds, keyboards, you name it. I like to think I'm pretty darn handy. Perhaps too handy, because my husband barely knows how to use a screwdriver. And he's okay with that, because he's got ME!

18. I've been married for 15 years this coming November. I cannot believe it's been that long. I also can't believe I have a high schooler...I don't feel old enough to have been out of high school that long. Any one else feel that way?

19. I can play the piano and sing. I used to sing and play more, but I don't have a piano now and my voice changed after having kids. Also, for some weird reason, I cry every time I sing. I've lost all control of my emotions. Weird.

20. I love to surround myself with people who make me laugh. I'm a pretty "UP" person, but it still makes my day to crack a joke or to laugh with friends. I'm a firm believer in "HUMOR: DON"T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT".

21. My husband and I have been through just about everything a marriage can go through. Without details, whatever you can think of, we've done it. It's been painful, it's been hard, but with the grace of God we've made it so far...and it really truly is like fine wine (although I hate wine)...it's getting better with time.

22. I am what I like to call a "Disorganized-Organized" person. If you look at my desk or my purse, you see chaos, but I can find ANYTHING you ask me to find. I know exactly where everything is in that tornado. And I'm darn proud of it.

23. I got in very little trouble in high school. There were a couple of events....I snuck out with a friend and stayed out all night and panicked horribly when it came time to come home. I was totally BUSTED. I also ditched on Senior Ditch day (against strict orders from my mom), forged the absent note, and got caught. Again, BUSTED. Come to think of it, everything I tried, I got BUSTED. Also, I tried just about every extracurricular activity there is in high school....colorguard, drama, softball, choir, MUN. You name it, I probably gave it a shot. I only stuck with choir and MUN though...and it was worth it.

24. I'm secretly addicted to Sodoku.

25. I love my family, my friends, and my God. What more is there to say?

OK, so I'm a flake!

2009-01-19T19:52:00.000-08:00

OK, ok. I get it. I'm a flake. I just logged in and saw that I haven't blogged since September. WOW! F-L-A-K-Y. So, in an effort to correct that, I'm setting a goal to post once a week. I think that's manageable.

If you can't tell, we've been VERY busy. School for some reason has taken over my life and I'm just now catching up and getting some of my life back. I rather like it!

Christmas was super fun-watch for a Christmas smilebox from me! Sean and Lindsey came down and we purposed to spend as much time with our parents as possible. So, we planned a "Cheney Family Olympics" down at the park for the day after Christmas. It was super fun. Sean and Linds planned 10 events for the whole family. We loved it! This was followed by a period of rest and lunch, then we went bowling. Afterwards, we went for pizza, then came home and crammed everyone into my mom's family room and watched the Grinch. It was a very long day, but very worth it. There's so much more to tell, but I'll leave it at---We had a great Christmas!

For New Year's Eve-we had the whole family over, plus the Brattons-that's a lot of people in our tiny little house. We made snowflakes, played Wii, BBQ'd and ate a lot, and kicked back with everyone. At Midnight, only the Bratton's were left, but we sure made a lot of noise! It was another super fun time and I LOVED having my family and friends over!

And now here we are, catching up, still cleaning, and I just put up my Valentine's decor! Am I crazy or what? Also, I signed up for Facebook. Now I'm spending whatever time I DON'T have searching for past friends in Facebook. Very addicting, I'm afraid.But, you should try it. It's fun finding people you haven't thought about for almost 20 years!

All in all, it's been a good past few months. The Lord is good and I'm so blessed-no matter how stressed I am. Watch for pics soon!

Happy Birthday Donald and Oliver!

2009-01-19T19:51:00.000-08:00

I just found these on my old camera and had fun making a smilebox with them. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

We've been Elfed!

2008-11-25T19:30:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Back to life as we know it...

2008-09-06T19:34:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's that time of the year again...the summer has ended and we are all back to school, including me. I've actually been back since August 18th (yes, I know that's early) and started school on the 26th. My fourth grade class has 25 students this year, 15 boys and 10 girls and so far, we're doing okay. They are each so cute and different, and they talk ALOT, but I'm slowly whipping them into shape. Monday night is my back to school night, so that explains why I've been underground for the last few weeks. Prepping for the first few weeks of school (even have done some over the summer) is very stressful and time-demanding. Luckily, I'm just about set for the year, and slowly gaining some of my personal time back (for now).

As for the kids, Ben started school last Wednesday (7th grade-YIKES!!!) and DJ (8th grade) and Taylor (10th grade) went back on Thursday. I hate to admit this, but I was WAYYYYYYYYY ready for them to go back to school. I think they were, too. (They'll deny that to their graves, by the way)

This last summer was pretty boring for us...we went on a short trip to AZ to visit the Brattons in July and a quick weekend trip to SLO to visit Sean and Linds and the kids in August, and other than that, we didn't do much. The kids got pretty lazy and bored. I tried to do some fun things, and let them go places w/friends, but most of their friends were gone alot, and it's hard to do things on a budget. Hence, a lot of home time. We were kind of sick of each other and ready to have a scheduled life back. I'll whisper this right now, and I'll never admit it publicly, so don't even ask, but I much prefer a scheduled life to just laying around. Back in the days before I taught and had to work year-round, we lived for days home-pjs all day, popcorn, junk TV, and lounging around. Now that we're home all summer, we've started trying to manufacture activities to break up the boredom. It's also harder when I'm supposed to be working from home. I have yet to master that-I'm not cut out for it, I don't do it well, and I would prefer not to. I also have very little interest in Donald's side business of sports cards and memorabilia, so that's another thing. But I did my best, that's all I could do. And I'm extremely glad to be back at school.

BTW-the Etsy shop is going well...I've sold 3 rolodexes, some mini albums, and some cards. Granted some of it was to family members and friends (thanks girls!), but I did sell to some complete strangers. Yeah! In fact, the store's pretty empty right now-hopefully I'll have some time coming up to get more stuff listed. Thanks for asking about it and for checking it out! :)

Have a great rest of the weekend everyone....I do have some pics from events from the last few weeks...I'll get them posted soon! :)

Yes, they do sleep!

2008-08-14T17:53:00.001-07:00

Quick little blog to show you that there is still some sweetness in this world....

Have a great day!

I'm on Etsy!!!

2008-08-11T17:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right, I have joined the Etsy world. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, Etsy is a website where people sell handmade items-kind of like an Ebay but not as commercial and only for handmade and vintage items. Catherine and I have decided to start a scrapbooking business and we're starting it on Etsy. The name of our company is "just add you". Cute, heh? Our main items will be custom scrapbooks, custom page layouts, handmade cards, and custom rolodexes. Here's an example of the rolodex I make....this one was made for Lindsey for her birthday. It's a birthday rolodex....

So, check out our Etsy shop. The website is www.justaddyou.etsy.com. Watch in the days to come for more items added like mini albums, cards, and more! Wish us luck and spread the word!!!!!

No, we're not camping..we just look like it!

2008-08-11T09:19:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, the kids and I decided to go crazy and "campout" in our backyard. Some friends of ours (Barb and Keith) gave us a portable fire pit and I decided to put it to use. So, after several feeble attempts, we finally got it lit and had ourselves a great time! We had BBQ style chicken and veggies and then some s'mores! We even got Donald to join us! We spent some time stargazing and relaxing-it was super fun! Don't you wish you were us! :)

I've been tagged!

2008-07-24T18:23:00.000-07:00

i was tagged by Lindsey to do the abc's of me (and anyone who knows me knows that I cannot pass these things up!). So here they are....

A. Attached or single? attached
B. Best friend? Cath, Joni, my sisters, my husband

C. Cake or pie? pie- lemon cream from Marie Callendars yum!
D. Day of Choice? saturday
E. Essential Item? rainbow sandals, Mac Lip gloss, sunblock

F. Favorite color? brown with peacock blue or pink

G. Gummy bears or worms? bears
H. Hometown? Mission Viejo, CA
I. Favorite indulgence? chocolate or ice cream-Thrifty/Rite-Aid Double Chocolate Malted Crunch
J. January or July? july
K. Kids? 3- and they're all out of elementary school now!!!

L. Life isn't complete without? um, chocolate. yes, definitely chocolate. ( copied Lindsey's answer-I totally agreed!)
M. Marriage Date? November 27, 1994

N. Number of brothers and sisters? 3 sisters, 2 brothers - i'm the middle child (explain much about me?)
O. Oranges or apples? apples - only Granny Smith and very cold
P. Phobias? spiders-big time
Q. Quotes? "What does not kill me makes me stronger"

R. Reasons to smile? the kids are all going to camp next week!

S. Season of choice? summer

T. Tag 5 people: cathy, cathi, shannon, court, and carrie (some of these people have now been tagged twice-sorry guys!)
U. Unknown fact about me? I have had a crush on Jason Bateman since junior high!
W. Worst habit? starting projects and never finishing them-once again, I copied Lindsey's answer-I'm horrible about this!
X. X-ray or ultrasound? ultrasound for sure
Y. Your favorite food? don't have one- I love almost everything but sushi!
Z. Zodiac sign? Virgo, but I don't really follow these

Have fun! Heath

P.S. Pics and updates on our trip to Arizona are coming, I promise. I was a bad girl and took absolutely no pictures and Cathy and I got around to using her camera on the last night and day we were there. So, she's going to send me the pics, but not until this weekend probably. So, just know that it's coming......

We survived...

2008-07-15T20:22:00.000-07:00

just for the curious....we survived the weekend with Hobie. He actually mellowed out, I took away the pillow for the weekend, and we found a way to keep him occupied without tearing up everything in sight. The boys were actually sad to see him go home yesterday. Sorry Hobie....it was fun while it lasted....

So, here's what else is goin' on...

it's 8:24 PM on Tuesday night, Donald is asleep in our chair, DJ is watching the All-Star game and loving every minute of it, Benny is trying to master Guitar Hero (super fun-I played it for the first time tonight!), Taylor is at worship team rehearsal at church and I'm supposed to be finishing up dinner. I know, I'm a great mom...you don't have to tell me. We went to Disneyland today-yeah! It wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be, most of the rides were 10 minute waits, and we got to ride just about everything we wanted. It was very hot though. But the kids and I had fun. We also had giant ice cream cones at about 5 PM, if you wondering why I'm getting around to dinner now-Donald's the only one who's hungry. When I wake him up to tell him that I made croissant pizzas, he won't be thrilled, but he'll eat them, because it's what I made. Ahhhhhh, what a life.

Tomorrow, I'm tutoring, then running to Costco, grocery store, and Trader Joes. Then, we're packing up for....Arizona! Yep, we're trecking across the desert to go visit Cath and the boys. We're leaving on Thursday and staying till Monday and I'm sooooooo excited! (Should I mention that she's been out here for the last 2 weeks and we're driving out together? That'll be fun, too!). First though, tomorrow night we're working the Journey concert! I LOVE JOURNEY!!!!!!! It'll be fun and with any luck we'll make enough money to pay for our gas for our trip! Keep your fingers crossed!

So, that's whats up in my little world....how bout yours? Anything exciting? Love to hear about it! See ya!

one dog, one pillow, my house....

2008-07-10T22:40:00.000-07:00

ok, so we're dog-sitting mom's adorable little dachsund, Hobie, while they're in Laughlin for the weekend. I was NOT in favor of this, but mom talked me in to it, so I brought Hobie over...This is what my house looked like before the dog came out of the carrier...

This is Hobie...looks cute, loveable, and peaceful, right?

This is the dog's pillow-cute, soft, little fluffy thing that the dog wants to sleep on, right?

Wrong...way wrong...turns out the dog like to destroy his comfy pillow...

He's just getting started....

The end result!!!!!

...and to think, Mom promised she talked to the dog and said he would behave!! Unbelievable! Needless to say, the dog was put to bed for the night...we'll see what tomorrow holds! AAARRRGGGHHHHH!

Our Baby's All Grown Up!

2008-06-23T08:10:00.000-07:00

Well, it finally happened....Benny graduated from 6th grade! Our baby boy is now done with elementary and on to Junior High. His ceremony was on Wednesday, June 4th and he got to give a speech! There were about 10 student speakers, and I'm not biased or anything, and I have had this confirmed from other non-family members, but Benny's speech was BY FAR the best. He spoke well, and he wrote so many great things about his experience at our school. Most of the family was there, and the Brattons even came (They had 2 cousins graduating also).

This year was fun for us, because he came to my school. We rode together every morning and he hung out after school with me. I will definitely miss that! He also grew so much in the Lord-I was truly amazed. He was surrounded by kids who had been in private school all their lives, and at first he really struggled, but he rose to the challenge and we are so proud of him!

Mr. Zimmer, Benny's fantastic 6th grade teacher

The other thing is...I no longer have a child in elementary school. I can't believe it! One High Schooler and 2 Jr. Higher's. It's a different world for us now, no more coloring, cutting, pasting, no more book reports with adorable hand-drawn pictures, no more parent-teacher conferences..it goes on and on. I know that some of you have yet to start elementary school with your kids..my advice to you is..be as involved as you can. I missed so much of my kids' elementary experiences because I was working, I really do regret it. These last couple of years have been better because I have been able to take more time off, and I finished school 2 weeks earlier than my kids, so I've been able to participate in their end of the year activities, and the kids have loved it. So, even if you're a working mom...try to find something to help out with at their school- I used to send in baked goods for the monthly teacher birthday celebrations, I helped with the book fairs..and all of that was great, but I could have done so much more. It's weird because once you get to Jr. High, the parent involvement really drops off. They have a PTA, but it's not like before. It's very behind the scenes and the parents are a lot less visible. So, I have to get used to that, I guess.

Anyways, the last 2 weeks have been very bittersweet for us, as I pack up all of the kids elementary school projects and report cards and we prepare for a whole new world. Good news is, Ben will be at school with DJ and all 3 of them will be pretty much on the same schedule....God is good! :)

Sacramento 2008

2008-05-31T11:55:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox postcard

Hey! My class and I just returned from our 3-day trip to San Francisco and Sacramento. Here are some pics of our trip-we had a great time! I have about 200 more photos, but I thought I'd spare you all and show you a few. Have a great day!

Things I'm thinking about this morning....

2008-05-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

My heart is heavy this morning. Perhaps it's the rain. Perhaps it's the stress of end of year activities for me. There's a lot going on in my life, my friend's and families lives, and the world around us. All the disasters, earthquakes, cyclones, etc. have shown how fleeting life is. The other day, my all-time favorite Christian artist Steven Curtis Chapman lost his five year old daughter in a driveway car accident. I'm not sure why, but it has really hit me hard. I think because I have gone about life for so long just "winging it", scampering around, getting the kids here or there, trying to get some time with my husband, going to work and church, and trying to squeeze in extra activities when I can. It's very hard to do all that and still find time to enjoy life and all the blessings that God has for me! So, here's what I'm thinking about today...

~how nice it is to be in my jammies at 1:30 PM on a rainy Saturday
~how blessed I am to have my hubby and my kids-none of them are perfect, but I am overwhelmed by the thought that God saw me worthy enough to care and love them
~what a blessing my job has been-it's had its struggles, but if I had held out for a public school job, I would not be employed right now. I've come to realize that I'm right where God wants me to be
~how amazing my family is-mom, dad, brothers, sisters, kids, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents--all of them are blessings, even though I neglect them!
~how awesome Cocoa Pebbles taste-I'd forgotten!!
~how much I miss my best friends...now they both live in Arizona. Joni has been there for awhile now-we've been friends since high school, and lived apart for most of our friendship, but have managed to stay in touch and be there for each other over the years. I miss her tons, but have gotten used to seeing her once and year and living for those few moments we get together. Cath just recently moved and I miss her tons. I miss hanging out on Fridays, eating brownies, yelling at each other's kids, seeing her at school everyday, and being able to hang out at the drop of a hat. This is a big adjustment for all of us-but I know God has a plan and I'm trusting in that!
~How great our God is-even in heartache, suffering, pain, and loss. Our family has been through a lot of stuff over the last few years-and yet, everytime, God has revealed his greatness and love to me. There has always been a rainbow after the storm. It was mighty stormy there for awhile, but the clouds always lift and God is always faithful.
~I'm grateful for the little things...scrapbooking, baseball, junk TV, Simply Lemonade, happy kids, and time to think and pray. I do love my life, my hubby, my kids, my family, and my friends. And I love my God for giving all of this to me-I pray that I never forget all of these blessings or take them for granted.

Stagecoach 2008!!!!

2008-05-18T17:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, so here are the pics (in as much order as possible)....Shannon, our friend Cathi and I drove out on Friday afternoon...

we stopped at the outlets for a few minutes and headed to the concert. We got there just in time to see...
Trisha Yearwood, John Fogerty and Eagles.
We then headed back to the condo. We hung out on Saturday morning, drove the golfcart around, and just enjoyed being lazy.

Around 12, our friend Sherri joined us. We cleaned up and headed out to the concert. We got to see Taylor Swift, Dierks Bentley, the Judds, Rascall Flatts, and more!

Here are some pictures of the crowd-there were people as far as the eye could see...it was unbelievable!

Sunday was another fun filled day (although we got some bad news from home-Shannon's daughter Amber fell in a soccer game and broke her collar bone. We debated for awhile as to whether or not to go home, but my parents were taking care of Amber and she was resting, so we decided to go for awhile and maybe come home a little earlier than usual). Here are some pics from Sunday. We looked like turtles with our back-pack chairs on, but we didn't care cuz those things hold a lot of stuff! :) We got to see Gretchen Wilson, Trace Adkins, and Big & Rich (with Cowboy Troy-the black cowboy-yee-haw!!!)

In the end, it was a super fun weekend and we were all grateful for the time off, the time with friends, and the chance to see some of our favorite performers. Well worth it! :) See you next year at Stagecoach 2009!!!!!!!!!

Stagecoach, here we come!

2008-05-01T18:40:00.000-07:00

1 DAY TILL STAGECOACH!!!!!

For those who are curious, Stagecoach is a 3-day country music festival in the middle of the CA desert-Indio. My sister Shannon and I went last year with some friends of ours and had a blast, so we decided to do it again! We're leaving tomorrow afternoon with our friend Cathi (Shan's BFF), staying at a friend's house in Palm Desert and going to sit at the Polo Fields all day, enjoying some of our favorite country music. We are so excited! Here are some pics of last year's trip....

Yeah, that's us with Sean Parr and Robin Banks from Go Country 105. Yeee hawww!!!

1 day to go!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woooooo Hooooooo!!!!

Happy Anniversary to me!!!!

2008-04-28T23:00:00.000-07:00

Guess what! I just looked back at my posts and yesterday was my one year anniversary of blogging! Woo Hoo! That's pretty cool to me-I didn't realize that it had been a year. And what a year it was! I guess that's why we blog, heh? I love looking back at what I've written and posted pictures of...like a diary. I guess now that I've done that, I really have to stick to my promise... more posts, coming up.

BTW------for anyone who cares....4 DAYS TILL STAGECOACH!!!!!! WOOOO HOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!CAN'T WAIT!!!

So much to blog about....so little time....seriously...

2008-04-28T22:28:00.000-07:00

ok, so I've made a little promise to myself to blog at least once a week. I'm no super blogger like some of you, but I'm going to do my best. I think it's really important to get my thoughts out and I really do like it, it's just about finding the time and making it happen. So that being said, I really do have sooooo much to blog about. I'm going to be posting a bunch of pictures soon, so I'm sure that will help. Here's a working list on things I've yet to blog about...

1. Taylor turned 15 in March-yikes! A few pics to be posted from that glorious day
2. DJ just turned 13-double yikes! I have two teenagers now! AAARRRRGGHHHH!
3. Cathie's move to Arizona-took a few pics, not as much as we should have. The move went well-we got a lot done on the house and we were all in good spirits until it came time for us to leave. Oh man were we a mess. We knew it would be hard-but it was nearly unbearable. I think what made it okay for me to actually drive away was knowing that we were going to see them in 2 short weeks and then 2 weeks after that (and now 2 weeks after today-to have the baby!). Anyways, it was good-their house was a wreck, but we fixed it up pretty good. I'm told it already looks different from when I was there!
4. Cath's visit and Baby showers-2 at school and one at my house-super fun days. Perfect weather. Pink and brown everything (including cupcakes!). Pictures to follow.
5. Open House & Grandparent's Day at school-also took some pics of my favorite project by the kids, plus Mom and Dad came by to spend some time with Benny, so that was a good day.
6. DJ''s big birthday party on Saturday-we took him and 3 of his buddies, plus Markie and Elijah and Ben, go-karting at K-1 Speed and then met up with the fam at Oggi's Pizza. It was very fun-I think he felt loved. At least I hope he did.
7.The FISH FEST was yesterday!! Not nearly as good as last year-but Cathie and her family were there (almost her whole entire family!) plus many families and friends from school-so it was a good day. Shannon took all the pictures, so I'm sure they're posted on her blog. If she sends me some, I'll post them.
8. Donald and DJ put together DJ's new basketball hoop (thanks to the best aunties in the whole wide world-Shannon, Courtney, and Cathie-who gets to be an auntie by default). I took some pics tonight as the boys played with it for the first time.
9. If you really want me too, I'll go back to the beginning of the year and catch up-I have great pics and video of New Year's Eve-we were rockin' with Shannon, Mandy, Cath, and the boys. Literally. DJ had just bought "Rockband" for his playstation and Benny had gotten his Wii, so we had a great night of playing games, being rockstars, and assembling a BBQ. I'll try to get into the details of that one later.

I know there's more, but my brained is fried just thinking of all of that stuff! Like I said, pics to come and I'll work my way through the list. BTW- in case anyone's counting...I have 28 days left of school. Ben has 26. Taylor and DJ have 38. We're getting so close to the end of the year-I can't believe how fast it's gone....wow...bye for now!

P.S.

2008-04-19T20:59:00.001-07:00

Oh yeah, mom just reminded me that I didn't give an update on the move...it's coming..let me download my pictures and I'll fill you in.....

Why I haven't blogged....

2008-04-19T20:35:00.001-07:00

I've hit a wall. Literally, today, I hit a wall. At the risk of sounding sappy and emotionally unstable-My life has changed so much since Cathie left and I'm kind of having a hard time lately. (Sorry, Cath, if you read this, but we talk everyday, so this shouldn't surprise you.) Just about every aspect of life has changed, not necessarily for the bad, but just "changed". School has definitely not been the same-my new monitor is very sweet, she's from South Africa so she has an awesome accent, but she's pretty quiet and definitely doesn't have the presence that Cathie had. She also doesn't work as fast as Cathie does, so I'm having to take a lot more work home now and things are not getting done in the classroom like they used to. I'm a bit overwhelmed. The kids are getting used to her, but they ask about Mrs. Bratton daily-and some of them are very protective still about "her desk", "her calculator", etc. I know they'll be okay, and I will too, but it's just different.

Daily life has changed-it still feels so odd that we don't see each other every day. It's odd that whole weekends go by and the boys haven't come over, we haven't made brownies, and we actually went to bed at a decent time! There was a time when I could be having a bad day, call Cath crying, and she'd be over in a heart beat to help with whatever was standing in my way. Today should have been one of those days, but, I had to settle for a phone call. Let me start at the beginning. I have Open House on Tuesday at school. Anyone who's a teacher or is related to one, or is fairly active at their school knows that Open House means STRESS for teachers. So, I decided not to work the Grand Prix today and go into school and work on my classroom. Things have been neglected for the last 3-4 weeks and I had ALOT to do. Far beyond the norm. So, I headed over around 9 am and got to work. It started off fairly well, then, as I was standing on a student's desk to hang things from the ceiling, I fell. Yup, right off the desk. I caught myself with my leg (nice bruises forming already) so it wasn't a major fall, but it was the start of a yucky day. As I moved around the room, things started to fall apart-literally. I moved one of my history boards and the whole thing fell over and all the letters, posters, etc. fell right off. I went to dust my huge bookshelf and almost immediately, the shelves all decided to come off their holders and fall out of the bookcase-books and all. The entire back piece of the bookcase was off also-so I'm surprised it was even still standing. And so the morning proceeded like that-I knocked a flower vase off my desk and it broke and spilled water everywhere. This is where the wall came in to play-I threw my stapler at it. I was DONE! SERIOUSLY! So as I looked around my room and saw that every corner, every wall, every table, and every board needed help-I called Cath. The last time I did that-she dropped everything and came to school and helped me decorate and clean. Couldn't do that today. It was still good to talk to her, though, and it calmed me down. At that point, Donald and the boys came by, and we left to do an errand and eat lunch and that helped. After that, it was right back to work-you should have seen me, I had to reassemble about 10 clay pots that the kids had made and then promptly knocked off their desks, shattered to pieces, and then begged me to fix. So, I fixed them. Took an hour. Of time that I didn't really have. But, I love my kids, so I'll continue to do whatever I have to to help them enjoy the fourth grades.

Meanwhile, life has gone on, and God is good. DJ turned 13 last week (blog on that to follow), Taylor was in a dinner theatre play at church last week (blog also to follow), Donald has been going to great lengths to make sure he's here for us and helping me out, and the kids have been behaving. And we're dog-sitting Grandma's new puppy tonight! So, I know that there's more to life than Cathie-it's just a different life and I know God is faithful and we'll all be okay-I just miss her!

Prayers Coveted!

2008-03-25T07:42:00.000-07:00

Well, today's the day. Today my BFF of 20 years is moving to Arizona to start a new life with her family and new baby. I'm filled with so much emotion-mixed, of course. On one hand, I'm super excited for her and her family to get another chance to get it right. They've got a nice big house (5 bedrooms!) and a new baby GIRL on the way-I can't wait to see what God has in store for them. On the other, I'm sad because she's leaving. The selfish part of me wants more than anything to keep her here.

Our kids have been best buddies since birth

and we have been through so much together-including scrapbooking adventures, working concerts,

and teaching together this year-I can't imagine not seeing her everyday! My heart is very heavy this morning and I get dressed and packed-the kids and I are loading up and helping them move-I can't stop crying-I'm a mess. I'm sure it will go fine and we'll have a great couple of days together-but it won't be the same. I also know that she'll be back in 2 weeks and then again in May to have the baby, but it's still a good-bye that I'm not looking forward to. So, on that note-I covet your prayers. Please pray for her-she's got a big burden to bear and a lot of work to do, especially being pregnant! Pray for the transition to go smooth for the boys-they've been through a lot. Pray for Cath and her hubby Marcus-that they work together and enjoy making this new house their home. Pray that they get plugged in to a church community right away. I guess, just PRAY PRAY PRAY!!! I know that God is good, He is faithful, and He will provide-pray that she will trust in that too-help her to see the bigger picture and see that God has a plan. Pray for the rest of us that love them to be able to see that too! I'm going to miss you Cath! :(

Our Trip to San Francisco

2008-02-29T19:42:00.001-08:00

Our Trip to San Francisco

2008-02-29T19:24:00.000-08:00

We went to San Francisco last weekend-Thursday through Sunday. After a way-too-quick stop at Sean and Lindsey's (where none of us thought to take any pictures), we headed to the City by the Bay. Friday morning, Donald headed off to set up for his show, and I took the kids into the City for the day. We had a great time-above are the pics...enjoy!!!

It's Official-I have an illness!

2008-01-04T22:36:00.000-08:00

So, I decided on this rainy Friday night to go out to the garage and clean up my scrapbooking area. It's been piled (okay overwhelmingly overflowing) for months now and I've been working around it, until tonight. So I put some Frank Sinatra on and went to work. I was doing okay, putting away new papers, ribbons, etc and I got excited because I could actually see the work bench. Then I started opening up the bags from the Scrapbook Expo that Cath and I went to in August. Yes, that's right, I'm just getting around to putting away stuff I purchased in August. (did I mention the desk was PILED with stuff?). So I got out the stuff I purchased and put it on the table to put away. I got so shocked by myself that I decided I'd better document my illness in case one day I come out here and am never heard from or seen again. Perhaps I'll let the pictures do the talking...

Help-it's eating me alive!!!!!!!

And to think, all of this was from only a couple of hours of shopping! In my defense-most of it was from Bargain Bins and only cost at the most $1. Some of it was $1 and Buy One Get One Free-making it $.50!!!!! But, still, even I was blown away at how much I bought and how sick I really, truly, am. And yet, even amidst all this overwhelming chaos, I was able to select a few favorites that I am excited about. Here are my favorites-the shape things are actually self-adhesive felt embellishments and they are super cute! The round red things are like big emeralds cut in half and ready to put on paper. They sparkle like diamonds! Here are close-ups of my faves...
Decorated Brads from Bo-Bunny. They're actually called "Bodacious Brads" and they are to die for! These are very Christmas-y and may find their way onto my Christmas pages from this year (made from pictures stolen from Shannon, of course).
Next are Lego-shaped Brades and Giant colored-rhinestone brads. These are from Eyelet Outlet and I am super jazzed about them. The lego brads I have been searching for to use on my pages from our LegoLand trips. Aren't they cute? The rhinestone brads don't have an official use yet-but I'll find something for them!
So, here's the kicker-if you're not convinced that I am a very sick, twisted human being who apparantly chooses scrapbooking supplies over all other rationalities, I turned around after taking these photos and saw my latest purchase....

I truly did not need this giant scrapbooking set, but I fell in love with it at Costco, so I saved up my $40 and went and bought it. Don't know where I'm going to put it or what I'm going to use it for, but I had to have it. It has over 400 pieces of flowers, stickers, brads, papers, metal tags, tapes, ribbons, and more in it. Super cute colors. Even has two albums in it! Did I mention that I have more than 10 empty albums waiting to be used on my shelves? O well.

I may never even get around to using any of this, but it's all super cute, it was very inexpensive, and it made my day (for now). BTW-the next time any of you hear me say "I have to go to Michaels or Jo-Anns!"-please do us all a favor and knock me out. I don't need ANYTHING from either of those stores! :)

Here's what we've been up to...

2008-01-03T20:00:00.000-08:00

So, here's the update on the haps in our family...I haven't blogged since October (and even then I only caught up to September, so I have a lot to write about. I'll try to keep it short and sweet...

First-here are pics from my birthday and Ben's birthday in September. I realized that I promised pics in my last blog and never posted them. So here they are...

October brought on soccer weekends, colder weather, Halloween, and fall activites at home and school. Taylor and Ben played soccer this season and both of their teams played pretty well. They both went up in divisions, so it was a bit of a challenge for both of them. Benny played in Under 12 and Taylor went up to Under 16! Taylor's team made it to the playoffs and she played her hard out. Ben's team also made it, won their first game, and then lost. It was a great season for both of them. Here are some pics from soccer...

October was also a big month in our family, because we welcomed Isaiah John Toney into the world on October 18th. He is so amazing and a total blessing from God. David and Courtney are so in love with this little one and so is everyone else! He has so much hair you can't believe it. Check out Courtney's blog for the link to their family website David created. It will blow you away! The weekend after he was born, Sean and Lindsey surprised us all and drove down here. We were double blessed that week! Here are some pics from their visit!

Halloween was fun for us-we always get dressed up and hang with Shannon and her family. After pics, the girls went out their friends, DJ went with his friends, and Shan and I trick-or-treated with Cath and her family. Perhaps the best memory of this year was everyone trying to figure out Ben's costume. Shannon actually ran a contest on her blog to see what everyone would guess. It's pretty funny, you should click over there and look it up-it's worth it for the laughs. We heard everything from licorice, blood, a heart, the devil, and even "RED" the color-in the end it was revealed that Ben was a red gummy bear. My mom (bless her heart) and I did our best to sew a bear costume out of quite possibly the worst red fabric ever created. It was pretty funny. DJ was a football player and Taylor was a muse (the girls from the Disney movie Hercules). They all looked great and we all had a great time. Here are some pics...

Early November was our all school "Western Round-Up". This is basically a big country fair fund-raiser for our school. Every class had a booth-mine was the cake-walk. The parents help decorate and we provided baked goods and prizes for everyone. I even baked some-and tried my hand a caramel apples-they turned out pretty good! It was a super-fun day and my class raised over $800 for our class funds! DJ and Ben were there and they enjoyed the inflatable joust-they played on it all day! Here are some pics from that day!

That brings us to Thanksgiving. A very busy month for me at school because of field trips and holiday parties and the loss of a week of school. We worked on being Thankful and continued to give God the praise and glory in the midst of it all. In the end, it went well and we had a great month. Here are a couple of pics from our trip to the San Juan Capistrano Mission and our Thanksgiving class party.

Also in November, Taylor, DJ, Mandy, and I were in a play together! We performed in School House Rock Live! It was a total blast. I'll post pics of that later (I have to get the good ones from Shannon).

As for Thanksgiving Day, Shannon, Courtney, Sean, their families, and my parents all went up to Shannon's cabin in Big Bear and had a blessed time together. We stayed here and had a morning of football-DJ and Taylor played in the annual Turkey Bowl at Mission Viejo High School, and then we headed up to Carson for the dinner with Donald's family. It was a nice day, very relaxing, and filled with food, fun, and family. I was a bad mommy and did not take any pictures that day! Can you believe it? I feel bad, but I just completely forgot!

Anyways, that brings us to December. Ahhh, the month of chaos, cookies, and the never-ending search for the perfect gifts and decorations. This year was no different in our house. The wekks leading up to Christmas were so busy for me, as they were for everyone else. On top the usual events and activities, I also had to prepare to move my classroom into our new beautiful building. We were not given any dates, but were told that it could be any day, any time, and we would have to be ready to go. So we started stripping the walls, packing up books, and preparing to move, on top of the parties, concerts, tests, and everything else. I did pretty good, I think. Much thanks to Cath for hanging out after school every day that last week helping to pack-she is a life-saver (Cherry flavor, of course!). Christmas Day was spent at Mom and Dad's in the morning in our PJ's, with lots of laughter and a bit of tears. Once again, no pictures. I really stink at this! I think sometimes I get caught up in the moment and forget to take some pictures. Luckily, I know Shannon always does, so I'll be stealing a few from her and posting them later. Anyways, after that we headed home to wash up and went up to Donald's parents in Carson. It was nice day, filled with love and family and rejoicing in the greatest gift of all...JESUS!

Here are a random assortment of Christmas time pics....our house (notice the $200 Lego train that Benny bought and assembled all by himself-it really works-it's awesome!), Aunt Lois' Santa Party, my class Christmas party, our trip to see the Rockette's Christmas Spectacular ....and whatever else I find in my files to post for your enjoyment.

There...officially caught up, I hope. For now....look for a post on New Year's Eve-we had a rockin' good time, but I'll spare you from that right now.... Love you all!

So. Cal Snow Angels

2008-01-03T19:47:00.000-08:00

Hi! I'm back and attempting to get caught up for everyone (and for myself, of course!). I've got so much to write about, but I thought I'd start back up slow and easy. About 2 weeks ago, the leaves started falling off of our giant tree in the front yard. It was kind of funny because Donald and I sent the boys out to rake them up, and they were raking, but after about 2 hours, the yard looked worse than it was when they started! We eventually gave up and I let them pile them up and roll around in them. It was amazing that even at 14, 12, and 11 the kids loved playing in the leaves. I threw the Christmas hats on them in the hopes of using them for Christmas cards, but alas, that was one thing that had to go this year.
So, here they are, the Southern California Snow Angels....

(the first one is my favorite!)

Thank You Cards

2007-10-16T22:05:00.000-07:00

So I thought it was time that I shared a little bit of my scrapbooking passion with you. I am making Thank You cards for Courtney for all of her baby gifts. I really really love scrapbooking and I am recently grown to love making cards. If you're on our Christmas list, you got a taste last year of what I've been experimenting with. Anyways, Courtney's showers were all baby blue and brown, so I thought I'd make cards to match. I have recently purchased a couple of new tools that I wanted to show off, so here goes...I have this new amazing cutting machine called a Cricut (pronounced cricket)-it's so awesome! You buy different font cartridges and type in what you want to cut out, like names, letters, etc. In this case, the cartridge I used had a "Thank You" on it and I cut it out to be a hanging tag with a little crown at the top. The first picture is a picture of the cricut cutting out the brown hang tags I used. The second cool tool I used is a "tagger". This is similar to the taggers that retailers use to hang price tags, but it's made just for scrapbooking, is pink, and comes with cute little different color "tagger tails". I have had so much fun using this! So, I assembled the cards, cutting out the squares of patterned paper (most of which was scraps from the shower decorations), and gluing them on. After that I punched out the "thank you" tags and then hung them on the cards with the tagger. I added a few extra embellishments like buttons and ribbons to the ones that seemed a little boring. Here are some pictures of the cards I made (close ups are of my favorite ones). Hope you like them Courtney!

I'm back and I'm alive!

2007-09-22T12:06:00.000-07:00

Yes, its' true...I've come out of hiding. After about a month of total chaos and craziness, it looks like we're finally settling into our routine. Believe it or not, it takes about 1 month to get established at school. I've finally got my head above water! I have so much to blog about-I can't believe how I've let time get away from me! I'm going to try to give you a rundown of all that has happened since August, as well as share some pics, this is going to be pretty long and for that, I apologize....

In mid-August, Cath and I went to San Diego for the Scrapbooking convention. We left on Friday afternoon, took a class, shopped a little, walked around downtown and shopped some more, shopped even more, volunteered, and then cropped the night away! We spent the night and got up Saturday morning for another class, then headed home to work a concert. It was a whirlwind, but it was super fun and we learned some new tricks and had a great time laughing and cropping. I love croppin' with Cath!

The following Monday, the kids and I went up to SLO to visit Sean, Lindsey, Grace, Lily, and new baby Silas. He is soooo sweet. The kids loved playing with their cousins and they even helped me babysit one night while Sean and Lindsey got some time out for dinner. They played games, we colored, we walked around SLO a bit and thoroughly enjoyed our visit-even though it was only for one day! Those visits are few and far between, but oh, so worth it. WE love you guys!

After we got back on Tuesday night, we went to Wild Rivers on Wednesday with the kids group from church and my BFF Cathie tagged along. I think I only have a couple of pictures from that day, but we had a great time relaxing, playing, swimming, and laughing together (even after DJ left JoJo alone at the big waterpark and we freaked out just a little bit). It was a great day had by all!

The following weekend, we celebrated Shannon's 39th birthday. It was a bittersweet time for all of us, but we made the best of it! Cathi Hamen and I kidnapped Shannon, took her to breakfast, and then we met up with family and friends at my Aunt Lois' house for lunch and games. Shannon was so surprised! We were joined by friends from various walks of Shannon's life-high school, church, kids' friends-it was a very fun time. We even learned a new card game! :) After lunch, we all loaded up and took Shannon on the second part of the surprise-to see WICKED! She was overwhelmed when even more friends met up with us there. It was amazing! (second time seeing it was even better for me!). After the show, we drove around Hollywood looking for a place to eat-missed the closing time at CPK by 2 minutes and they wouldn't seat us! We ended up going to the Lucky Strike bowling lanes and having a very nice little dinner. We laughed alot and hopefully Shannon felt the love coming from all of us. It was a great time.

On Monday, her actual birthday, the family got together at Laguna Beach for some fun and relaxing. We went just before sunset, we played baseball (until the ball went over the railing), three flies up (until the ball went over the railing), and then frisbee (until the frisbee went over the railing). Shannon and the kids went down to the water and played a little and then we all walked around for awhile. It was very nice and Shannon enjoyed the time with all of us.

After that, it was time to get ready for school! I had already started prepping for school, but my school actually started on August 30th. This year, Ben is coming to my school for 6th grade. He has very mixed emotions about it. He is, of course, sad to leave his friends from Montevideo, but a little excited at the prospect of being at school with me and his best friend Elijah. The first days of school were pretty chaotic for us as we tried to get our morning routine together-it was even harder because Taylor and DJ had not started school yet! We started a week before them! So we got through that...here is Benny's first day of 6th grade picture....

The following week, my little girl started High School and my baby boy started Junor High! Totally crazy! I can't believe that I have a high schooler, a junior higher, and a 6th grader! Next year they'll all be out of elementary! WOW! Taylor is a freshman and MVHS (where I went) and has already adjusted to High School life. The transition was made much easier by her twin cousins, Ashley and Amber, and almost all of her friends from church all going to the same school. It was extremely smooth. I'm grateful for this! DJ has also transitioned well to Jr. High at La Paz (also where I went). His best friend Ryan goes to school with them and they spend almost every waking hour together. I'm so grateful that God has put the people in my kids lives that they need to be surrounded by, to uplift them, encourage them, help them, and just be there for them. It is such a blessing knowing that they have their closest friends at school with them. Here are their first day of school pics...

So, that leads me to the next big event in our lives-my baby Benny turned 11 last week! I can't believe he is 11 years old. It truly does seem like just yesterday that we were driving to the hospital at 7 AM, I was OBESELY pregnant, and we got pulled over for our registration (Donald hadn't put the sticker on yet). We laughed all the way to the hospital and then everyone got the joy of hearing me spout just about every foul word I know as I pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed to get that little boy out of me. They say that your labors are supposed to get better as you have more kids-I went the opposite direction. Benny was deadset on staying in my belly and there was nothing we could do to force him out. It was a very long day. I remember at one point, I was screaming "CUT HIM OUT! GET THE DOCTOR AND CUT HIM OUT!". I think there were a few choice words thrown in there somewhere, but I was truly dilirious and had no control of my mouth. After 4 long hours of pushing, I finally got to where I could start pushing him out. At 9:50 PM, that beautiful little boy came out screaming! I knew he was going to be the one to keep up humble-and he was! He still is! Benny is so unique and special and I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world. He is a thinker, a questioner, and puzzle-solver and a perfectionist-a perfect mix of me and Donald. He definitely keeps us on our toes-but he also provides some of the best humor and entertainment for us. I love his thoughtfulness and his ability to solve problems and puzzles. Our favorite pastime is the Rhyming game-he's very good at it. If you ever get into a Rhyming war with him, you'd better bring your A-game. Sometimes I let him win. :)

The day after Ben's birthday is my birthday. I had a wonderful day-even though we had to go to school! :) The kids in my class all gave me a rose and a compliment, as well as a gigantice bouquet of balloons-the biggest I've ever seen. Shannon and Courtney came to school and brought me breakfast, Sean called, Donald sent me quite possibly the most beautiful rose arrangement I've ever seen, and then the room moms brought pies and cookies at the end of the day. The class was overwhelmingly generous in their gifting, which you'll never hear me complain about! :) For dinner, we had an Asian feast at Shannon's house and celebrated our birthdays with the family. It was, besides my 21st birthday when I met Donald and my 24th birthday when I had been, quite possibly the best birthday ever. I felt so showered with love and so appreciated-it moved me to tears. I am so so so grateful for the people in my life and to the Lord for placing me exactly where I need to be. At times, we question His plans and we try to make our own plans-we try to solve our own problems and take on the world by ourselves-and then we have time where we can sit back and say "Praise you Lord-you DO KNOW what you're doing! I'll just step back, give you my life, and trust that you're going to work all things for good in my life". And you know what, he does!

BTW-pics of our birthdays are still to come---watch here for more exciting updates......

So, that's about it for now. I'm going to try to be better about posting, now that I'm all caught up-it should be easier, right? :) Love to you all!

Love our visits!

2007-08-25T21:00:00.001-07:00

Ok, second post of the day..woo hoo! Today my friend Cynthia from college came down from Fontana with her 8 month old son Jeremiah. He is so cute! Cynthia and I went to Azusa Pacific University together in 1990. We sang in choir together and lived in the same dorm wing and became good friends. We also share birthdays (kind of)- Mine is Sept. 19 and hers is Sept. 26. She and I have some of the best times, just laughing and being silly. She definitely brings out the lighter side of me. We calculated that we have known each other for 17 years now-that makes us pretty darn old! So, we usually try to get together a couple of times a year and today was one of those days! Her little boy Jeremiah is the cutest little slice of cuteness you'll ever see-the kids just loved him! He's in the bouncy, rolly baby stage, so it was really fun trying to get him to be still for pictures-but they turned out alright! We had a great time and I was reminded of how blessed I am to have a few close friends in this world-friends that really know me, laugh with me, cry with me, and bear burdens with me-she is one of them! Love you girl!

We're all alright...

2007-08-25T08:29:00.000-07:00

Ok, so the first few days back weren't all that bad...I think I just built up a lot of little frustrations into one giant ball of "AAARRGGGHHHHHH!". Somewhere deep down, I knew that once I got back to school, walked in my classroom, and started prepping, I would be fine. And I was, for several reasons...I think, as with most things, the anticipation level was much too high..meaning, I was thinking about way too much, worrying about way too much, and not praying enough! Once I figured that out, I sat in my classroom Wednesday morning, looked around, and began to pray. And, wouldn't you know...it worked? I took a deep breath, handed it over to God, and my day was awesome! The second reason that I know everything is going to be alright is that my BFF Catherine is going to be my monitor this year! YEAH! In case you don't know, a monitor is like a teacher's aide-they help us grade and file, they sub for us, and they help with the kids on the playground. I was really stressing about this because my monitor from last year was so awesome-we bonded instantly and had a great year..and I didn't really want to total stranger working with me. So, Catherine applied and we waited all summer to hear is she was going to be with me....got the news on Thursday and have already started getting sick of each other! :) J/K Cath! We are so excited and I think God has wonderful plans for our year in the Fantastic Fourth!! :) Thanks to those of you who have been praying for me...please continue to pray as I just got my class list and I have 14 boys and 7 girls-YIKES!!!! Lots of prayer needed there.....
Oh, yeah, I also still have alot of posting to do about the last couple of weeks of summer....they're coming! :)

The last day....

2007-08-21T16:58:00.000-07:00

well, I have so much to blog about..we've done so much in the last week and a half and I have pics of everything to post, but for now, I'm wanting to share a little of my feelings with everyone. Usually I'm a pretty happy person, unaffected, easy-going (I like to think), but today I'm bothered. In fact, I think I'm downright blue today. My summer has ended. Today was my last day of freedom as I have to report back to school tomorrow. School actually starts on the 30th, but we have to report starting tomorrow. While I am so grateful to have a job and I do love my job, I have very mixed feelings right now. The summer has passed so quickly. Most of you know that this was my first summer home with the kids and I had great plans for us. I had a list a mile long of things to accomplish and goals to meet, as well as work for school that I intended to do over the summer. Alas, very little of it got done. And I'm feeling like a bit of a failure. I know I'm not a COMPLETE failure, because we did do some fun things this summer, and we loved being home, but I had really high hopes and goals for myself and came nowhere near meeting them. It's frustrating! On top of that, I'm really not ready to go back to school. My kids don't start school for 2 weeks, so now I'm back to scrambling for day care and the busy-ness is going to set in and I don't think I'm going to like it! I was working on some things for Donald earlier today and just got overwhelmed with stress, worry, anxiety-so I threw myself on my bed and had a good cry for awhile. It felt somewhat good-only now I'm exhausted on top of everything else! I know everything will be just fine, I know the Lord is in control, and I know that none of this is earth shattering or anything, but I can't fight the feelings that are overtaking me today-which is unusual because I'm usually a fighter. Right now I really just want to curl up in a little ball and cry some more and pray for one more day! Please say a little prayer for me tonight!

Project Playlist

2007-08-09T14:44:00.000-07:00

I have a MySpace and my BFF Cathie showed me how to create a playlist of all my favorite songs-so I thought I'd share. You go to http://www.projectplaylist.com/, sign up for free, and start searching for music you like! It's super easy. It basically takes the links from itunes and other websites and creates a media player that stores and plays your favorite songs for you-for free! They have every genre of music you can imagine and tons you've never dreamed of! I'm going to try to paste my playlist here, but if it doesn't work you can go to my myspace or to project playlist and look me up-it's under "hmac5". I'm so excited. Be warned though-I went a little crazy on my playlist-I went all the way back to the 80's rock and rap, threw in some country, some current rock, and tons of Christian music. I call my list "My Eclectica"-take a look and you'll see why....it's there, you just have to click on the "launch standalone player" button and my player will open in a new window....(or you can go to my myspace)....
Enjoy!

data="http://www.greatprofilemusic.com/mc/mp3player-othersite.swf?config=http://www.greatprofilemusic.com/mc/config/config_regular_shuffle.xml&mywidth=435&myheight=270&playlist_url=http://www.greatprofilemusic.com/loadplaylist.php?playlist=12623916">

value="http://www.greatprofilemusic.com/mc/mp3player-othersite.swf?config=http://www.greatprofilemusic.com/mc/config/config_regular_shuffle.xml&mywidth=435&myheight=270&playlist_url=http://www.greatprofilemusic.com/loadplaylist.php?playlist=12623916">

We love baseball!

2007-08-09T09:34:00.000-07:00

Ok, DJ and I love baseball. Taylor only loves it because she loves the stadium peanuts. Ben only likes it because he gets ice cream. Donald is really only a fan to see who's hot and who's not for his card business. So, that leaves DJ and I as true-blue baseball fans. I was raised on the Angels-my parents had seats behind 1st base for years (until the strike when my dad got sick of the greed and vowed never to support it again-he goes to very few games since then-usually only when someone else has tickets so he's not supporting the greed, I guess!). Some of my favorite memories are of Angel games-my dad used to buy us the program and he taught me how to keep score and stats of the game-I used to love that! We always had binoculars and I loved zooming in on all the action. It's funny, because he always had an "Angel game bag" ready to go for the game and I am that way also! Of course, my Angel bag is an extremely cute homemade bag made of Angel fabric and his was not as cute, but I think it's funny that we both did that! I loved learning all the players names, watching their stats, and hearing my dad tell me stories of all of them. My dad used to sell insurance to a lot of the players-so he had some great stories! Now, that tradition is being passed on to DJ. He LOVES baseball-when he was younger he would actually sleep with his glove! He is a true stat-guy-he can tell you almost anything you want to know about almost every player! So, last week, I took him to a game. We bought tickets from my friend and they were pretty good. We were out in left field, about 12 rows back, and got a great view of Garret Anderson (one of DJ's favorites). It's funny because he's not really fan friendly and later in the game, the fans were kind of heckling him trying to get him to look our way or smile-and he wouldn't break! It got pretty funny-we are all having a great time. The Angels played the Detroit Tigers and KILLED 'EM! The final score was 13-4! Woo-hoo! Another fun thing was that DJ got to run around the bases after the game-that's a pretty cool that the Angels do. It takes a while to get through the line, but it goes pretty fast and DJ loves it! DJ was in heaven and we had a great day! Here are some pics.....

DJ in front of the stadium, me and DJ on the field after he ran the bases, DJ by the field (that's Garret Anderson in the background), DJ in front of the dugout (that was pretty cool), and a self-shot we took. We had a great time and hope to go back soon! :)

Awesome beer girls take 2

2007-08-01T14:31:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we got to work quite possibly our favorite concert , the FishFest.

This is an all-day Christian music concert. Some of our favorite music acts were

there- Chris Tomlin, MercyMe, Third Day, and our new fav Aaron Shust. We

worked all day, made a measly $6, but were blown away by the kindness,

positive attitudes, and general feel-goodness of the day. I think our favorite thing was looking out at the crowd from our stand and watching people, especially grown men, raise their hands and worship the Lord full out without shame. We couldn't stop taking pictures, because we wanted to remember that feeling-totally, unabashed, worship of the Lord. This is a picture of one of those guys-never met him, but couldn't take our eyes off of him (and others).

At one point, we were able to step out of the booth andworship with Chris Tomlin. We were sitting with my sister, Shannon, and got caught up in the moment. Before we knew it, we were praising and crying-it was breathtaking. The Lord was truly present that day (He is every day, but you know how sometimes you can actually feel it?) and we were wrapped up in His glory. It was amazing. Almost the whole family was there- Dad, Mom, Shannon, the twins, Tay, Mandy, and DJ. DJ got to work his first concert that day-he actually made more money than me! He had a great time. Taylor worked, too, and had fun with her BFF Nicole in their food stand. Here are some pics of that wonderful day....

Totally awesome beer girls!

2007-08-01T13:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, so since I haven't posted in a week, I thought

I'd share some super fun pics of me and Cath servin'

up the beer. For those of you that don't know, we

moonlight as Beer girls at Irvine Meadows (oops...

Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre-which will always be Irvine Meadows). We work almost every concert that blows through there and have a dang good time doin' it. Last week started out with a "super-fun" beer training that

lasted about one and 1/2 hours too long and actually made me feel dumber when I was done. Cath and I got bored and started snapping photos at our table in the back. Here are some of them....

The day after this meeting, we had a Rush concert to work. That was a great time, we made lots of money and laughed a lot. Especially at the drunk boys (ok, 40 year old, but still boys) who couldn't find their way around the corner to the bathroom and saw it fit to pee right in front of us. Yes, we actually took pictures of them and they didn't even care. In fact, I think they left us a rather large tip when they bought their next round! So, we get to wear these ultra-cool shirts, black pants, and tennies-man, do we look awesome when we work!Later in the night, my mom joins us. That makes it really fun-three of us working around each other in a space about 20 sq. ft. Here are some more really neat pics of us working...

Here are the boys relieving themselves right outside our stand. Nice......

More to come in a bit...have to download some more pics.

Check this out!

2007-07-25T12:44:00.001-07:00

I was driving home with Benny on Monday night and we were struck by how awesome the sky looked. He said it looked "like the gates of Heaven were opening up for us". It was truly breathtaking. Benny ran outside with my camera and took these shots...not too bad, heh? I think he's got a future....That's it for now..just thought I'd share these...

We B Scrappin'

2007-07-23T14:12:00.000-07:00

Hi! Last weekend my girlfriend Catherine and I went to our charity scrapbooking event. It was in LA, it was all day, and it was AWESOME!!!!! We "won" all kinds of cool stuff, we learned new scrapbooking techniques, and ate and laughed a lot. We raised almost $5000 for the John Tracy Clinic and got to tour the site, which was pretty cool. Here are some super fun pics of our day.......

This is our table at the start of the day..pretty neat, heh?
This is the table as we worked-notice the huge piles in the middle of the table.
Me, of course. Man, I looked hot that day....
Catherine looking happy with her prizes she won.
Us at the end of the day, still scrappin' and lookin' pretty!!

Thanks to everyone who donated! We had a great time and we'll be doing it again soon, in the fall, and then hopefully in March. Catherine will be heading up one to raise money for her sisters with MS.

BUSTED!

2007-07-03T11:24:00.001-07:00

So, I was going through the house looking for my camera so I could download pics and post, and I couldn't find it. I was getting really frustrated and finally looked in Taylor's room, and there it was! I snatched it up, pulled out the memory card, and started to download. SURPRISE! Looks like Taylor had some fun with my camera. I was laughing so hard I cried, and I decided I have to post these (she's actually in a little bit of trouble and away at church camp this week, so she deserves this....). I'm not sure why she took these, but I'm pretty sure she wasn't planning on me finding them and posting them. O well. Finders keepers! Enjoy!

Notice the un-made bed in the background of this one...she was grounded all last week for not making her bed for 2 weeks. She proceeded to declare me "lame" and fight me about it all week long. She apparantly wasn't totally suffering while sitting in her room all that time....

Love you Taylor!

Happy Graduation Tay and DJ!

2007-07-03T10:48:00.000-07:00

Well, it has happened. My children have officially started to grow up. On June 20th and 21st, DJ and Taylor were both "promoted" to their next grades. This means I now have a high schooler, a junior higher, and a sixth grader. We are so proud of all of them, they did very well in school and have really worked on to set a great example and be a great friend. Here are some pics....

Taylor has blossomed into a beautiful young woman and we are so proud of her. She turned 14 this year and is headed to Mission Viejo High School next year, which is where I went to High School.

Here's DJ's graduation....He is such a joy to us. He's sweet, sensitive, smart, and caring. We couldn't be prouder of his hard work and positive attitude. He's headed to 7th grade at La Paz Intermediate, which I also went to school at.

Love these pictures with family and friends. We continue to pray for our kids daily and trust that He has great things planned for them as they progress in life. We are so blessed by all of our kids and we are so grateful to God for entrusting us with them and for giving us guidance and wisdom in raising them. We pray that we can continue to raise them well.

Scrapbooking for Charity!

2007-06-16T10:57:00.000-07:00

I am branching out and have begun scrapbooking for charity! We found this really cool company called Scrapbook Royalty that sponsors scrapbooking sessions to raise money for different charities. It is really awesome! So, on July 14th, I'll be scrapbooking with my pal Catherine to raise money for the John Tracy Clinic in Los Angeles (the clinic supports families with children and infants with hearing loss). Here is the link if you want to check it out...http://www.scrapbookroyalty.com/jtc.html . I need to raise at least $100 for this charity, so if you like to donate any amount, as little as $5, I'll take it! Just let me know!

How this came about, you ask? Well, Catherine has two sisters with MS and when we saw this company at the Scrapbooking Convention in San Diego, she thought about doing a crop to raise money for MS research. So, she looked into it and the crop on the 14th will be our first, "experimental" crop. After we go, we'll be setting up a crop night to raise money for MS! It's so neat to see that we can put our passion to use to help others. I hope you'll support us, or at least check it out! :) See my list of favorite websites for their website. Love you all!

My bounty!

2007-06-16T10:34:00.000-07:00

Hey! I just thought I'd share the beautiful bounty of roses that bloomed in our back yard last week! I've never been much of a gardener-in fact, it's been said that I manage to kill silk plants- but for some reason, these little guys keep blooming and I'm loving it! My favorite are the orange-yellow ones-they have swirls of color in them and they are absolutely gorgeous! Anyways, enjoy some pretty flowers, compliments of me.....

School's Out!

2007-06-10T18:55:00.000-07:00

It is with mixed emotions that I meet the end of my 1st shool year as a fourth grade teacher. We had a crazy last two weeks of school, what with our 3-day Sacramento trip, Father's Day gifts, A trip to Disney's CA Adventure, a pool party, making memory books, room clean -up, and final tests and everything else. It was a whirlwind, but I got it all done and practically dropped dead at the end of school on Friday. I can't believe it's over! I was very emotional-this was a big deal for me to say good-bye to my very first class. It was an extremely difficult year, but also a huge blessing-I learned a lot, cried a lot, slept very little, tried to laugh as much as possible, and prayed more than I ever have. I truly learned total dependence on God for my strength, wisdom, and endurance. This was quite possibly the most stretching 9 months of my life. I was tested and pushed and pulled in way I never thought possible, but it was all good in the end. I can truly say that I was right where I was supposed to be and God is good and took care of my family, my students, my friends, and me while I labored. I wouldn't change a thing! I went home Friday night and slept for almost 12 hours straight-now it's Sunday and I feel almost refreshed=one more good night of sleep and I should be good to go! This week entails packing up my room, finalizing grades, report cards, and closing up all loose ends. My kids are still in school till the 21st, so I should get some time for all of this! Thanks for reading this and check in again soon for more exciting updates!

Sacramento Here I come (and then back home)

2007-06-01T18:53:00.000-07:00

So, I'm sitting here in the Sacramento Airport waiting to board the plane home. I have spent the last 3 days in San Fran and Sacramento with my 4th grade class and boy was it fun! A little overwhelming-not for the weak or easily frustrated, but very fun. I brought 20 students and their parents from my class and we traveled with 22 students and their parents from the other 4th grade class-a total of 89 people, I believe. We went to San Fran, visited Alcatraz, ate clam chowder (my fav), went gold-panning in Coloma (the discovery site of gold) and swam in the hotel pool-yes, I swam with the kids. I was little worried about scarring them for life with the sight of me in a swimsuit-but they don't seem very affected. Today we visited the capital and Old Town, along the with railroad museum. Needless to say, I am totally exhausted, but in a good way. Everyone behaved, the parents included, and we are all flying home with a smile. The best part? I got to bring Benny here with me and he had the trip of a lifetime. Ask him about it! The pictures are of Benny and me at the airport on Wednesday morning, at Alcatraz on Wednesday afternoon, panning for gold in Coloma on Thursday, my class in front of the capitol building, and both classes in front of the capitol. There are 200+ more pictures which I will spare you from. If you ever want to see them-let me know! Love to you all!

The 7 meme (AKA TAG)

2007-05-24T23:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, I've been tagged. I have no idea what "meme" means (neither does anyone else apparantly), but here goes...

I was tagged by Lindsey.

Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

Here are my seven facts...

1. I sleep with one leg out of the covers and one under. It keeps me perfectly temporate, I have found!

2. I am a chronic snacker (duh!), but not always on the same things. My munching tastes change weekly, sometimes daily. Sometimes I'm salty, sometimes I'm sweet. Kind of descirbes my personality, heh?

3. It is 100% physically impossible for me to tan. I've tried everything there is and I burn, peel, return to my lovely casperish hue again no matter what I do.

4. I've had a crush on Jason Bateman almost my entire life and still do. I sometimes watch Dodgeball just so I can see him. I chose him over Ricky Schroeder every time, and still would today.

5. I sing full out in my car when I'm alone, as if I'm onstage. I am that lunatic you watch and laugh at while sitting next to them at the red light. I do it with pride, but draw the line at drumming the dashboard.

6. I have baby quilts I started for each of my children before they were born and have never finished any of them...they are now 14, 12, and 10. I got the squares cut out and some are even sewn together, but alas, that "perfect day" to finish them has never come.

7. I am crazy obessessive about having my desk at school totally clean at the start and end of each day. My house is a mess, my room is a mess, my car is a mess, but there is something about starting the day with a clean desk and going home knowing your desk is clean. This is a fairly new thing for me, but I can't function all day long if I start off with a messy desk. Weird.

Anyway, that's me. I only have 3 blogging friends that I know of and I think they've all been tagged by Lindsey! So I guess I'll email my friends and have them post on their MySpace or post back here to me as a comment?!?!?!? I will tag...
Cathie
Joni
any other friend on my email list that I feel like!

Thanks Linds-this was very therapeutic!

Happy Mother's Day

2007-05-14T21:06:00.000-07:00

Well, another Mother's Day has come and gone. I sincerely hope that all you mothers (and mothers-to-be) had a wonderful day. Mine was not so great--I got a big screen TV. While this in itself is not so bad, I've come to realize that the only reason I got it is because my husband and two boys wanted it. Granted, we had a 19 inch TV sitting in our gigantic front room and we did desparately need a bigger TV, but for Mother's Day? I'm sorry, but I'm questioning Donald's motives. The day got a little worse after that, but I really can't get into that right now, unless you want to read another massive blog from me. Rest assured that it ended nicely, with most of us hanging out at Mom's playing the worlds longest UNO game (still no winner as of this writing) and a watermelon seed spitting party. Dad and Daveed cooked, and we ate. It was yummy! Hope everyone's day was a little better than mine, and that you were showered with love! After all, that's what the day is all about, isn't it? I guess I shouldn't make it all about the big screen TV. I'll get over it, eventually......

My first post!

2007-04-27T16:23:00.000-07:00

Ok, so now, I'm on the blogging bandwagon-since everyone else is doing it. (What's that favorite mom saying-"If all your friends jumped off a bridge.....?) Anyways, I have no idea what to do here, but it seems like I just start typing....

HI! Today is Friday-the last day of the work week (school week for me-I'm a 4th grade teacher). Yippeee! We're at home, chillin', unwindin', gearing up for the weekend, in which we will get no rest, as usual. I have three children-Taylor, DJ, and Benny. I'm married to Mr. Wonderful and we've recently moved into our first house. Here's a little intro to the McAllister family....

Taylor is 14 and will be a freshman in High School next year! AARRGGHHH! I can't believe it. I went to the parents orientation night last week and couldn't believe I was sitting where I went to High School 17 years ago and was planning her academic career for the next 4 years of her life. It really hit me hard! She is a beautiful girl, with a kind and loving spirit. She's so much fun! She can recite any line from almost any movie ever made and she loves to watch movies and perform in the theatre. She's got a lot of wonderful things about her....she's creative, musically diverse, dramatic, and amazingly smart....a little too smart sometimes, if you ask me! I could go on and on....

DJ is 12 and is graduating from 6th grade this year. WOW! So, next year, I will have a high schooler, Jr. Higher, and a 6th grader (Benny). I can't believe it! DJ is a sweet young man with a passion for baseball, video games, and sports stats (what 12 year old boy doesn't have those passions?). He is very generous and loving and I love his sincere, sensitive spirit. He's got many nicknames....Froboy, DEEJ (which is for me only), Junior, etc. He has been known for his "sweet 'fro" since kindergarten-he even got to keep it and grow it longer for his Aunt Courtney's wedding (Uncle Vito really digs the fro). Total chick magnet...watch out girls! Again, I could go on and on......

Benny is 10 and is currently attempting to survive 5th grade. He's an extremely hard worker, very diligent, and funny! He is the life of our family-always keeping us on our toes and keeping us humble. I love his ability to put things together in no time at all (just this afternoon, he made a race car picture frame in about 15 minutes-WOW!). He used to have a bald head, but has recently been growing the hair....it's a nice length now....he plays with it while he's thinking or when he's angry. Benny is our handyman, our helper, our worker bee....loves to accomplish tasks and stays on them (sometimes too long) until they're done right. I love his devoted spirit. His favorite game is the "rhyming game"- we say as many rhyming words in a row as we can and usually end up laughing till we cry. He's VERY good at it!

And then there's my husband Donald....love that man. Tall, dark, handsome....mmm mmm mmm. Donald works for UPS and has a side business selling sports cards and memorabilia at trade shows and on Ebay. While the "business" has cause quite a few "misunderstandings" over the years, I've learned to accept it and I appreciate it as his outlet for stress. Yes, he has stress, and yes, I'm acknowledging that I know about his stress. Don't let him read this! :) Donald is an awesome provider for the family, a devoted father and husband, and an amazing Godly example for our kids. His gentle spirit and kind heart have been his trademark and they are the things that I love about him. When I'm flying off the handle about something, he just takes it all in stride and tells me not to yell. He is the total opposite side of me-the other day, I decided if not for God, we would probably have nothing in common. He's a homebody, I'm a go-er. He's quiet-I'm most definitely not. He likes to sit and relax and even nap-I couldn't be caught dead doing that! But, just like Jerry Maguire said, he completes me. I would be lost without him! We've been married 12 1/2 years now and are still goin' strong.....love that man.

As for me, I'm a fourth grade teacher, mommy, Sunday School teacher, baseball fan, avid scrapbooker, family lover, and go-getter. I absolutely love my life and wouldn't trade it for the world. God has richly blessed me and my family and I'm forever grateful for everything God has put in my life. I'm learning to trust Him to provide for us and our futures as we are stretched in ways we never thought possible. I'm learning to "let go and Let God" and He has never let me down!

So, that's it for now...wow that was long....more next time.....hmac out.