life, it is what you make it

Winding down...

2011-01-02T20:58:00.001-05:00

The past three days have been just wonderful. Everyone has been happy doing there own thing while spending time with each other. I don't believe you have to interact all the time with people. Sometimes it's just the simple pleasure of just being in ones company that you really can savor. Currently Jarod is in his room playing on the wii. He was great in that he knew he had spent too much time on it the last few days. So today he watched some tv and just chilled with us for the majority of the day. Finally he asked if he could play for just a bit since the tv show we had wanted to watch we forgot to record. Riley is happy as a clam sitting next to me. He is in his element. He got a new lego set from Grandma and Grandpa for his birthday. He has his "official" set up of instruction manual and tv tray stand that works great for creating. Even though his birthday is tomorrow we have been sort of celebrating it a bit each day for the last few days. He wanted homemade pizza so together we went to Krogers to get the ingredients for it. I made the crust and the sauce from scratch...it turned out delish! I made his cake, marble with chocolate frosting and then I wrote "Happy 8th Bithday Riley" with green frosting (no one even noticed my typo ;) ) We are watching Extreme Home Makeover together. Yes...it has already brought me to tears, always does without fail.
Tomorrow it is back to the old grind. No lazy relaxing days spent in our pj's. The last few days have felt so good! While I have some jobs I didn't get done that I wanted to it's ok. I got enough done. I think I will work on my OLW assignment. I have been finding so much inspiration lately on projects I want to try....a coffee filter wreath is on the horizon.
today life is good...nothing exciting but a perfect day. we have much to be thankful for and today just makes me smile :)

2011 ....it's going to be a good year

2011-01-01T18:35:00.002-05:00

My poor neglected blog. I have missed you so. I was surprised by this. Even though I don't have any real followers I find that I am though..a follower that is ;) I am my biggest fan and really found that my blog is a great place for me to jot notes and memories of things that are happening with our life. I love going back thru the archives and finding little tidbits of our life that I may not have remembered. So with that I am going to start back with the blog.

I am a big fan of Ali Edwards and those that know of her know about her "word of the year". she is have a class over at Big Picture Class, One Little Word (OLW). This year a word found me. I found that I was saying this word a lot & that it really had a meaning to me. Something that was calling to me in many parts of my life. Focus. Just a simple word that is calling to me in so many ways. So with that I am embracing this little word and letting it do it's thing in my life over the next year. Today that focus has been just relaxing but still getting things done. No time lines to be any place. Staying in our jammies all day and just doing what comes. For Jarod it's playing his new game on the wii...I think he is going to need an intervention soon ;) Riley has love having the "power of the tv" he pretty much has the living room to himself. He is loving being able to watch whatever his little heart desires while he plays with his legos. I am in the midst of cleaning/purging/re organizing things. I have various projects in the worth throughout the house and while it looks chaotic now it will be worth it when it's done.

And then there is Benny.....Oh the big goofy lab we call ours. He certainly has a rough life doesn't he?

Heather

Mama's christmas list!!!

2010-11-26T09:14:00.001-05:00

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama ( http://bit.ly/tmwishlist) and GameStop ( http://bit.ly/gamestop10) are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family?
That with all the commericals and hearing and seeing all the shopping sales that we remember what Christmas is really about. Time to cherish what we have and our blessings. Make memories that we will hold dear in our hearts for years to come.
2. What is your Christmas morning tradition?
I love to bake and make goodies for family and friends. I get help in the tasting dept. Also the boys and I go with Grandma downtown on Christmas Eve and look at the lights/decorations on the circle. We then come home and warm up with some hot chocolate and be sure to put some cookies and milk out for Santa
3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be? A looong vacation to Europe. I have always dreamed of traveling thru Eurpoe...and i know a certain kid that would love to join me :)
4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money? spending time together doing fun free activies that celebrate the holidays and what they are about. decorating the house and making goodies for people.
5. What games did you play with your family growing up? we played a lot of trivial pursuit, backgammon, monopoly.
6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood? putting home made cookies and milk out for Santa. Decorate the tree as a family.
7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip? New York....and stay at the hotel Kevin from Home Alone stays...the boys and i loove this movie. it is our christmas movie of choice :)
8. Check out GameStop ( http://bit.ly/gamestop10) and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year?Without a doubt the xbox 360 is the top of Jarods list along with the new cod game. Riley would love the new dsi xl....and the kirby yarn game...whoops that's four things :)

2010-04-11T09:27:00.000-04:00

Game face....We started the spring season today and what an awesome start of the season. They won!!!! 2-0 vs Fusion. We have played this team numerous times and it was great to see the boys play and awesome defensive game. They looked great!!! Here's hoping to the start of a fantastic season!

blur...

2010-03-23T00:57:00.001-04:00

That's what the last few weeks have been.. a blur, a flurry of activities mostly involving running around doing mom things.
This kid...turned 11 (here is competing at the Purdue Math bowl competition. The school team placed 3rd!)

Where does the time go! He is turning into a teenager in just a few years..I don't
know if I am quite ready for that. I have to admit right now...I am feeling good that he is heading down the right course. He makes some great decisions and is a responsible caring kid that with as much as he loves to annoy his brother looks out for him. He is involved in several activities at school, yearbook, chess club, math bowl team, young astronaut club. He is becoming pretty well known around campus. Even with all this he is still the same down to earth kid that loves soccer, video games, friends and hopefully his family ;)

Then the big event came last Tuesday night....the Science Fair. The entire 5th grade class has been working on this for the last several months. There has been lots of assignments and research done in order to get there presentations and experiments completed. Tuesday night was the big finale...presenting to the judges. He has put a lot of hard work into his project. Lots of research and work completing all the various tasks needed for this big night. I was the "photographer" of the project. He really impressed me when he came home with this slides he wanted to put on his presentation board that he had type up with powerpoint....POWERPOINT! I was amazed by that...the kid does this on a regular basis, who would have thought! The parents had to leave the kids with there projects so that they could present them to the judges. We were not allowed back to where they were at until about a a hour later. Parents could then come support their child while the judges added up the scores and tallied the results. A few minutes later the awards were presented. First there was the honorable mentions, 4th place, 3rd places....2nd place. By this point I was praying...please let him get something. The kid extracted DNA from fruit for heavens sake! Again...he amazed me the day he came home and told me what his project was going to be. It was finally down to the first place winners.....

He did it!!! HE WON FIRST PLACE!!!

Out of a total of 95 kids he and 4 other kids placed in first!! I was soooo proud of him! He really put a lot of time, work and effort into this project and it showed. He did a fantastic job presenting his project and really learned a lot. Some days I wonder if he is headed to a future with some kind of science background. With his love of math and then seeing him really interested in the science behind this project it makes me wonder. If you were to ask him though...he would say he wants to be a soccer player first :) That being said, we have started spring outdoor training, and I have the allergies kicking my but to prove it ;)

We also went the Indiana Ice game for Jarod birthday. He brought along 2 friends along with Riley. Gosh there was lots more that's happened but this is the cliff notes version for now :)

It's finished......for the most part!

2010-02-27T12:47:00.003-05:00

and I love how it turned out :)

Oh my gosh!

2010-02-17T20:34:00.005-05:00

I love it!!! Isn't it pretty!!! I know these are not the best photos. I just grabbed the camera and took some quick shots while I had some sunlight. It turned out even better than I thought!! There is still just a little bit of work left but gosh its so pretty!!

Progress....

2010-02-16T19:26:00.003-05:00

Yesterday....it looked like this....

I came home today to this! It's getting closer!!!
Hopefully by this time tomorrow I will have new floors! I am soo excited. Still trying to figure out why someone would put linoleum tile over hard wood floor. Turns out the little section of hardwood floor section that was in front of the door was the hardest thing to remove. They had nailed each board about 2" apart with big old 3" nails!

And the snow continues to fall.....

2010-02-15T16:29:00.003-05:00

This was earlier today...I would say we've gotten about 6" today on top of the 5" or so that was left from last weeks storm. Today I am grateful for having the day of for Presidents Day. We have been bunkered down in the house all day. No need to leave just staying home all warm and cozy...still in our pj's ;)

I am excited...tomorrow is the day the old carpet is being removed from the living room and hallway. I didn't think this day would ever come!

Why would you do that?

2010-02-14T20:26:00.002-05:00

I love the look Max is giving me. I can so hear him telling me "What did you go and do that for?" I know he is thinking that because I went and got him a small plastic crate/kennel to keep him in at night. He has given me no choice. I have the new laminate floor that is going to be installed hopefully this week spread out all over the living room floor getting "acclimated" to the temp of the house. I am FINALLY getting rid of the nasty carpet I have in our living room. It never was quality carpet and the fact that we have lived here 5.5yrs already and it is so old and thin I think there is no padding underneath. Over the years I have cleaned it numerous times but you can only do so much when there is this pooch that has a bad habit of sneaking into the living room to leave his calling card in the middle of the night. What makes it horribly worse is that you don't "see" where exactly he has left his mark until it's too late. He is one stubborn dog and many of times I have threatend to be done with this dumb pooch. But...I just never have the heart to do it. His previous owner just took him to the groomers and just abandoned him there. Just said that's it...she supposedly couldn't take the scratching at the door he did. I can vouch he does this, but only when he knows someone is home and he is being left out. 90% of the time he is pretty good dog its this sneaky problem that is what is going to do him in. So since I am finally able to get the new floor I have been dreaming of there is no way that cute little face is going to leave his calling card on it. So it's off to the crate for you at night. Last night was the first night and he did great!! 1000% better than he did in a crate when we first got him. I think he finally has resigned to fact that this is a lot better than other possibilities.

Great day!

2010-02-06T22:36:00.002-05:00

We got quite a bit of snow yesterday...made driving home a real treat! Happy though that I made it home in one piece. We heavy slushy snow coming down fast does not make for ideal driving conditions that's for sure!
When I woke up this morning I wasn't sure just how bad it was going to be outside. The forecast varied depending on the weather person. Happily though we didn't get too much...enough but not so much that I wanted to stay indoors. I had a plan to go and look for a vacuum and also price laptops. I was doubtful about getting a laptop because it would be out of my price range. So we headed off to Walmart. I found a vacuum that looked pretty good and would serve us well. Dysons are great I just can't bring myself to spend 400 bucks for a vacuum! We headed over to the electronic dept. I wasn't too hopefully because this was walmart! I was looking at the ones in my price range...nothing very special. There was a guy there with his kids looking too and talking with the sales guy. Another surprise was the salesman really knew his stuff! Not what I would have expected at Walmart. So I noticed there were 3 different models all the same stuff on the inside but different in sizes. There was a dell though that was marked the same price....and was marked down 200 bucks!...a 17" beauty! I started questioning about it. Turns out they didn't have any...naturally! So I asked if other stores had one...nope...could I get it online...nope again :( Finally the sales guy offers to sell me the display for a discount. My ears perked at that...how much of a discount I ask. 30% he says. HELLO that was 180 bucks marked off the sale price! So here I type from my new "toy" all for just a bit over 400 bucks! TOTAL score! 4gb memory, 500gb harddrive, webcamera and office on it! I am in 7th heaven. Jarod is dying for me to move the desktop to his room. I need to have at&t come and move the router though because his outlet isn't hooked up for it. My day...no my weekend has been made! Next is the flooring for the living room. Hopefully I can get just as great of a deal!

I did it....

2010-02-01T02:01:00.007-05:00

I finally did it! It's been a long time coming but I finally bought a new desk! Not a used, aka hand me down desk but a new just what I need to do good with desk! I hemmed and hawed about it in the store finding reason why I should hold off. I had other things in my cart. We all know how easy things fall into ones cart at target. I talked myself into going back and putting that big box in my cart! I am so glad I did! I have soo much more room to work now! I have also found another use for my teeny tiny old desk...it's the perfect home for my expression and a few other "tools" that I wanted a work area for. I am trying to get things dialed in. I am getting so excited about having a nice space! Many moons ago I had a scraproom, that was a long time ago. I don't have a designated room for just scrapping/crafting but I am more than happy to make my space in my bedroom. To me this is my retreat I like it in here. I have 2 good size windows that let a good amount of light in. I can't wait to finish getting things in there place and get working ;o)

Cover story

2010-01-24T14:42:00.007-05:00

I am trying to tackle the weekly gratitude project. Something to be thankful for every week really isn't a hard thing to do. I have always been a person that finds something to be grateful for because I know there are many of people in the world that have challenges and troubles far worse than my own.

I really love the way my cover turned out. I worked on it last week but didn't get around to taking a photo of it until today. I wanted to do it during the day so I could get some daylight on it. Today is a cloudy overcast day but I think the picture does it justice. I love the colors I chose. Lately I have been really drawn to this combo of colors. Might have to find a way to incorporate these shade maybe in my living room. I have reds, yellows and brown. Why not throw a punch of this pretty blue!

Happy New Year!!!!

2010-01-01T15:49:00.006-05:00

Well...the decorations just came down. I have done a bit of after holiday clean up. Gosh my rugs are in bad shape!! I can't wait for refund time so I can look into getting my laminate down like I want too! The house has been REALLY quite today which is AMAZING!! with both boys being home. Both have had there noses buried in their DS to find time to bicker. Jarod is actually about to play FIFA 10 on the Wii (one of his christmas gifts). I am thinking of heading over to Barnes and Nobles to pick up a book I found. Well it's not really a book but more a journal...only you are to follow the prompts and find new creative ways to destroy it. It looks so much fun! I love the concept!
Riley's birthday is in 2 days~!! I can't believe he is going to be seven!! Where does the time go. We are doing just a family party on Sunday and then the big party will be at the end of the month at Pump It Up! He is so excited!

The aftermath...

2009-12-26T11:52:00.004-05:00

Christmas has now come and gone. It was one without snow which was a bummer of sorts. However the day itself turned out to be pretty darn good! I am so very blessed! Riley came down with a bug Weds night, poor kid got sick all night long. He couldn't keep anything down. By Christmas eve he was felling much better but still not a 100%. We had to postpone our annual trip to the circle because of weather and illness. We hope to get over there perhaps tomorrow.
The boys awoke Christmas morning around 8:30am. I have to say that is one way they are totally different then me as a child. I would be sooo excited that my sister and I would be bouncing out of bed before the sun came up....usually still in the wee hours of the morning. The rule we had growning up was that we could sneak out and grab our stockings. This would hold us over until the excitement was too much and we would wake our mom up usually around 5-6am! My boys however are not such earlier riser. The were excited to open the gifts and get to it. I found it very sweet that they wanted me to open the first gift. I choose the gift Jarod had picked for me...starbuck coffee! Does my boy know me or what? Both then took turns opening presents. Jarod was excited by all the nerf stuff he got and Riley was thrilled with all his legos! I always find it ironic that we spend so much time preparing for the BIG day only to have it over in a matter of minutes. All in all they were happy with there gifts :)
We headed to the Grandfolks house to start round two of presents. Again they were thrilled with the gifts they got. I know Jarod was ecstatic to get a real bow and arrow set! Riley got an awesome Darth Vader lego ship that I got the privilege to put together. I admit it...I enjoy putting the lego sets together :) I scored big with a great warm pair of slippers that I desperately needed, along with an awesome throw blanket. I will be oh so warm and toasty this winter! A tripod was another great gift. I can't wait to use it and get some great pictures with it.
After a fabulous prime rib roast dinner Grandpa made we spent more time together just relaxing enjoying a great day. Jarod however was acting a bit quite and I noticed he was curled up on the sofa. When I asked if he was ok he told me he wasn't feeling good. Yup...you guessed the bug Riley had, had taken victim number two. I quickly gathered our stuff and got ready to head for home. I knew how sick Riley was and didn't want to expose Grandma and Grandpa to any more of our cooties. Poor Jarod ended up sick like Riley. He even told me later that Grandpa's good cooking doesn't taste as good coming up as it did going down. Poor guy. This stupid bug did change things up a bit on our normal Christmas activites but it was still a great day to just relax and spend time with each other enjoying the holidays.

A little Christmas spirit

2009-12-20T02:50:00.001-05:00

I just couldn't resist getting Max ready for Christmas too! I wonder if Curtis and Macaroni would be such willing participants?

2009-12-19T01:29:00.002-05:00

A few days into it and doing good!

2009-12-07T20:02:00.003-05:00

And...the tree is up!

2009-11-28T22:23:00.000-05:00

So excited that this year we finally have a big tree!! No more skinny scrawny little thing in our living room. The boys helped me get the decorations on it last night. I am working on getting the house all shiny clean. I don't want to have my decorations up in a messy house. That just seems so wrong! Tonight I got the rest of the decorations in the house up. Tomorrow I am going to borrow the ladder from Grandpa so I can hang lights up outside on the gutters. I have never done that before but I have always wanted to!!! I need more pics of the progress than just this lil' one.

scenes from thanksgiving

2009-11-28T22:18:00.000-05:00

We had a fun afternoon at grandma & grandpa house. Grandma invited one of the students from IU she works with that wasn't able to go home for the holidays. Shes from Biejing and well...they don't celebrate thankgiving. The boys played on with their nintendo ds and the grown ups had a battle of Jenga. Oh my gosh it was sooo much fun! Who know some wood blocks could be so stressful! Grandpa was enjoying setting people up..mainly grandma ;) and removing blocks from the bottom right at the get go. We were surprised at how high we got that tower and especially how far we pushed it with out it falling down. It turned out to be a great day! I was only able to take a few quick shots with my lil p&s before the battery died. I knew the window over my dads shoulder was going make all my pics over exposed but I coulnd't fix it! excited to think i might be able to fix it too if i had my nikon with me.

Getting ready for the holidays

2009-11-08T16:53:00.004-05:00

SO I have been holed up in my room working on the album that I am going to do my december daily with. At first I wasn't thrilled with what I had but it's beginning to grow on me. I have added some metal, sewing, ribbons and trims and it's coming along rather nicely. I am debating if I want to backstitch the felt pages I did. I might just pass on it. I have found my self getting in the holiday spirit even when the weather outside is anything but cold and wintry. I have found some great ideas for gifts to make. I am really happy with everything I have found and can't wait to dig in and create them.

Tomorrow is off for week 2 of my photography class. I am excited and hope that this week I can really learn something new and be able to apply it. Last week was basics and I felt like I had a grasp of that. I got great advice for shutter speed. I am making a little cheat sheet for me to help until I know what I am doing.

2009-10-31T22:51:00.001-04:00

For today....

2009-10-16T20:45:00.006-04:00

Outside my window...is a black canvas. This is one of the advantages of living in an older neighborhood in a small town. No glaring street lights.
I am thinking...that tonight I want to scrap. I love my little table I have set up creating a cozy corner to work.
I am thankful for...that Bethany's didn't have to take that painful sounding test.
From the kitchen...cowboy pizza from Papa Murphy's, hot chocolate with marshmallows for the boys. Whip cream too for Riley, coffee for me. Trying out 2 new flavor creamers.
I am wearing...my brown hoodie, red,white and pink striped flannel pants and beige thick socks.
I am creating...memories to look back upon one day by doing this.
I am going...to eventually going to put the piles of clean clothes away that I have been putting off for days.
I am reading...Hissy Fit. Great book so far. Love the attitude and zeal southern women have.
I am hoping...the weather warms up for the game Saturday.
I am hearing...sounds of the tv from jarods room, riley munching on cookies in my bed while drawing in his big sketchbook.
Around the house...you find signs of our family in little details.
One of my favorite things...is getting warm and cozy as the weather starts to turn to fall.
A few plans for the rest of the week: library, help jarod with his explorer project, soccer game for j, riley to make cupcakes and spend time with grandma, go to the Ice hockey game with Grandma & Grandpa, laundry, need to get ideas together for halloween treats for school for the boys.
A photo of the day...

From 365

Cooties be gone...and getting my groove on

2009-10-11T01:42:00.005-04:00

Ugh...yesterday J came up to me in the morning telling me he thought he wasn't feeling well with a thermometer in hand. Poor kid was running a fever of 100.5 and had been coughing and sniffling the last few day. With all the H1N1 talk going around I didn't think it would be a good idea for him to go to school. So stay home he did curled up in his blankets in his room. Where he stayed all day long. Getting some much needed rest and taking medicine to help him feel better. I too wasn't feeling the greatest either but grinned and bared it. For once the one not sick was R! Today all was better no more fever and J was feeling back to the road to recovery. I made us lay low today though because I still wasn't feeling up to par. Also he has a game on Sunday and wanted him to rest up for that.
Completed all the challenges so far for the THAW challenge over at Willow TRaders. I have gotten 4 layouts done so far. Lovin' that I am getting stuff done and using stash!! I have really cut back on the scrap spending forcing myself to use what I have and not buy stuff to sit around not getting used. I am pleased with the layouts I have done. I am really DROOLING over an Art Journal I have found at Evalicious I love the halloween one and the school days and well...several others!!! I love Fall and this time of year. Love all the colors changing and the weather getting cooler. I think I am going to cave soon and have to get me one. I think I really "neeed" one ;)

Riley has really been finding his inner artist. The kid has such a great imagination. Today he was going to town with a mechanical pencil drawing out this cool picture of dragons and guys fighting them. He found a red pen and then started to add flames and color to it. I went and gave him my big package of assorted color sharpies and let him go to town, and that he did! He was thrilled to discover he had the colors needed to make Darth Maul and Darth Vader. Star Wars/ Clone Wars have been really big with him lately. Also legos! I think big legos sets are going on his Christmas list...that and a dual edge light saber that he's been asking weeks for. I love seeing what he creates and the little details that go into the picture.

Fall is in the air....

2009-10-04T02:39:00.004-04:00

and I am loving it! I love this time of year. It's great to be outside watching soccer bundled up surrounding by all the beautiful fall colors. Then stopping on the way home to get coffee to warm up with. That is pretty much what we did today. The boys had a awesome game! No win...yet but they are sooo close! Today's game was tied 2-2 they play a great game. Aggressive and determined, amazing team work. A real moral booster. I love seeing the excitement they all shared scoring those two hard earned goals. One was a penalty kick no less. Jarod was goalie for the entire game and did fantastic job! One of our players was trying to help keep the ball out of the goal. While attempting to kick it away it ended up going the wrong way and went towards the goal. The jury is still out on if it was in fact a score or not. The referring today definitely left a lot to be desired! There is NO way the center ref was old enough to work this game. NO lie the kid didn't look much younger than our players and made a lot of bad calls, well more like DID call any of the fouls that some of the players were doing. Last I heard grabbing and shoving players was not allowed. When it became obvious the calls were not going to be made the boys played just as hard back and didn't give up. The played a strong solid game of soccer, a game to be really proud of! It was great to see them all running around after the game wrestling with each other. All of those boys were on cloud nine over this game. Much deserved to say the least!

I have joined the THAW challenge over a Willows... Lord knows I have a ton of photos I need to work on and am NOT getting done. The challenges really moitvate me to get work/pages done. I brought the extra little card table I got into my room and have desk I can use to work on. What's great is I have discovered HULU !!! Oh my gosh! Why have I not checked this out before. It's like having a tv on your computer!! I was able to watch my missed episode of Fringe while working on my page. It was great!! I felt like I have a tv in my room now! I got my layout done for Monday that needed to be done. I am going to work on the other 2 tomorrow. Going to get the coffee brewing and have fun creating! Jarod stayed at a friends so it's just me and Ry it's nice have it be just us. I think both boys enjoy having that extra bit of one on one time. Next on my list is to find a better chair to sit in and I will be set!

home....

2009-09-26T19:31:00.001-04:00

Nothing makes a house even more home then having a few of this laying around...

Scenes from a Saturday.....

2009-09-20T00:13:00.002-04:00

Start the day chillin' with Macaroni before soccer
After a hard fought game where the team FINALLY scored a goal. Even though we lost it is the little things that count. We head to Greenwood Mall to go by Dick's Sporting Good to look for goalie gloves. No luck there :( Riley and I had a yummy lunch at Quedoba's, Jarod wanted nothing to do with it. Kid was missing out! Afterwards we head next door to ColdStone Creamery. Where naturally he is hungry for that (smart kid!)

Enough with the pictures already!! Even though he doesn't tell me this the face says it all!

On the drive home we get a visit by Darth Riley. I about busted a gut laughing at this goofball. I swear where does this kid come up with this stuff!!

And so we end the day like this....This is our house on Soccer.... Sad but true, during the soccer season a cleaned house is really not a reality! We don't mind too much. We are outside enjoying the weather and being together. Having fun as a family...who really needs a clean house when you got that :)

my poor neglected blog

2009-09-19T09:02:00.002-04:00

MY poor blog.....Life has been so crazy that I haven't done any posting. Not that anyone reads it but I do like to go back and read my entries and see what's been happening in my life. Don't think I am going to do much with it today as it sounds like a WWF match is going down in a certain 10yr olds bedroom. Won't be long before someone....aka Riley......gets hurt!

the season has begun...

2009-08-25T23:32:00.005-04:00

Well really it started a few weeks back with practices...three times a week no less. My days are completely and utterly filled to the gills. I still am playing catch up on work from my vacation. I figure I have only a few days left because well...the end of the month is right around the corner. I am constantly doing something but with as busy as I am I don't regret it one bit. I am having to have discussions with a certain 10 yr old to get him back on track with the swing of school. I have tried to warn him that things are going to start getting tougher as he gets older. I just want him to start getting back and focused on his work. I don't want him to start to slide. He has soccer and is also wanting to do yearbook for school. I was thrilled when I learned it would be before school! That means I won't be running around 4 out of 5 days during the week.

My lil' first grader is doing great. It really is a lot of fun working with him on his homework in the evenings. Most days he does it at home rather than at the Y. On soccer days he brings it with. I made him a special art and pencil supply holder out of an empty crystal light container. It is the perfect size to fit crayons, pencils and even a glue stick. Perfect for the on the road homework sessions. I need to get sometime to make him a little clipboard also.

The past weekend we were running around for a tournament. This was basically a good starting point for the coaches and the boys to see what their competition will be like for the season. Our first game was at 830am!! That is such a crummy time to start...its sooo early! Everyone is still half asleep and I have to say they played like it. The did much better the next two games. I was sooooo nervous and anxious when I saw they were putting Jarod in as goalie! I was like WTH!! OMG what was even better was he did awesome! It definitely adds a whole new element too the game. As if I wasn't anxious enough this had me on the edge of my seat holding on for dear life. He made some really great saves. I am wondering if this might his new calling on the field. I think its great he is developing some great skills that is making him a solid all around player.

Summer comes to an end....

2009-08-12T17:30:00.003-04:00

Today is it....the last day of summer vacation. The last week the boys and I have really had a good time. We got so much accomplished and they are ready to tackle a new year of school. Our little mini vacation was a big hit!! The boys did great! Riley is definitely growing up and maturing. He really is learning how to adapt to new things and the "meltdowns" are slowly coming to an end. Jarod is excited that the fall soccer season is underway. He found out at practice yesterday that his team was accepted into the "premier" division. In a year he really has come a long way. His skills have improved soo much!!! He is a totally different player now. I love seeing the growth and challenges that he faces and tackles. Riley won't admit it but he is thrilled to start first grade!! He loves schools...he loves the routine and learning new things. Exploring new avenues to showcase his creativity.
I have had a great vacation. It was a much needed break from work and the daily grind. I feel like I have gotten so much accomplished while catching up on much needed rest and a few things that needed to be done. I am even more excited and determined for us to have a vacation to someplace new and exciting. I want to take them to the beach next summer. I really miss the beaches since moving from CA. Never did I think I would thought I would have taken a beach for granted but I did. There is just something wonderful about running in the waves and feeling the sun on you with sand between your toes. Being able to body surf or play in the waves. I want the boys to experience this first hand! I don't want them to grow up being one of those people that have never seen the ocean. Everyone needs to see the ocean!!

It's a good day

2009-08-08T21:42:00.004-04:00

We had a good day today. Another day spent doing a few errands. We headed to the Grandfolks house to get our tickets for Holiday World for tomorrow. Afterwards we went to Plainfield and return the shoes Jarod had gotten for school, but then naturally found others he wanted. I got myself a new pair instead. I loved that they were having a sale so I scored me some new shoes for about 20bucks off! Since the boys dept was near by we discovered they had a bunch of stuff in Jarods size on clearance for 60% and more!! He found some really cute stuff! He definitely has a skater look going on. I was surprised to find him really liking the stuff! He was really into shopping! We ended up with 2 pairs of shorts 2 tops a belt and a new swimsuit....all the bottoms FIT even! Granted on pair of shorts were big even after adjusting the waist but we solved it by buying a new belt. We saved...almost 90 bucks!!! I got the clothes plus the belt for 58bucks with tax! Whooo hooo..the kid is set for school now! We then headed to Chic Fila for lunch...yum!
By the time we got home it was 3:30-4pm. The weather was getting warmer...it was 85 in the house! Riley wanted to go and play in the water outside and I said go for it. So he and a few other kids went to town. I knew it was going to head to the point of no return when I looked out the window to check on them and found them filling a hole with water (by this point it was muddy) and dunking their head in it! I was like...Let kids be kids...it's only mud nothing that won't wash off. The were at it for a good 2 hours. Nothing beats having fun in the summer in your backyard :) I love the kids all come to our house to play! I like to think that's a good thing ;)

Funny quotes of the day....

2009-08-08T01:08:00.003-04:00

I can't but help still to get a grin when I think of these!

We are at Cracker Barrel for lunch.
Me: "Are the pancakes good??
Riley: No.....there AMAZING!

Driving in the car on the way to the store. It's warm out so we have the windows down. I suddenly here from Jarod...."OH CRAP! We hit a butterfly!"

Upon further inspection we seriously doubt it's a butterfly more like a butter grasshopper/cricket. We don't know what the heck it is! Is there a entomologist out there?

Got lots accomplished .....

2009-08-07T00:18:00.003-04:00

Been very productive the last two days......
Weds...
dropped J of at school, went to Dunkin' Donuts for morning coffee for me donuts for Ry, Walmart for oil change and picked up a few things while waiting, got confirmation I needed new tires, went to tire barn for needed tires, go back to school to get J, go and wash car, boys to dentist,grab lunch, take boys for haircut, stop by Mc D's for a Diet coke for me...this was just Weds! Today get up get coffee, take Jarod to school, run to store to get stuff to make for the lunch for his class, run home and make baked rigatoni (white sauce from scratch!), whipped together just in time to pop in oven, run Riley to doctor for his ears, Run back home get rigatoni, back to school, take Riley to playground for a few while class eats lunch, head back home,make homemade ice cream, clean/defrost fridge/freezer, pick up house a bit, do a bit of weeding, hang low for rest of day.
Tomorrow.....back to school for Jarod. This time Riley and I get to hang out and help. Afterwards off to Plainfield for shoes for Riley for school. Stop by school to drop registration paper for after school program, and then soccer from 6:30-7:30...gotta prep for the tournament at the end of the month! Hope to get a picture of two of my progress throughout the day :)

This kid just melts my heart...

2009-08-07T00:15:00.001-04:00

Let the vacation begin!!!!

2009-08-05T00:06:00.004-04:00

It's official! Today is the start of my much needed vacation or staycation as I am calling it since we are not going any place special except for a overnight trip to Holiday World. The boys are thrilled about it. We have had crazy weather this summer so I am just crossing my fingers we get nice warm weather so we can enjoy the water park side along with the rides.
Thought I would make a list of things to do for today....

Take Jarod to his summer school class. Day 3 and he is really having fun. Tomorrow I make the lunch and help in the classroom a bit possibly.

Coffee!! I want to go someplace and have a good cup. I think possibly Starbucks is in order. Riley and I might head over here or Dunkin Donuts while Jarod is in class.

Dentist..Both boys getting a much needed cleaning.I love when I can get them both done at the same time!

Walmart...oil change, milk and cat litter. Need to make a point to not add extra items to the cart!

Get Jarod after class.

Soccer practice in the evening...that is if the fields are not too waterlogged from the storm that came thru yesterday...and left me this little reminder.

Rest of the day will go according to plan...whatever that might be at the time ;)

Sonic Saturday

2009-08-02T01:55:00.003-04:00

I loaded the boys in the car and headed to Walmart to get a few things for Rileys lunch for Mon and Tuesday. We decided to go to Sonic for dinner. I love diet cherry limeades, Jarod favorite is the real strawberry slushie and Riley tried watermelon this time. I thought I needed a summer picture of us for my phone. I just love this darn lil camera phone. I have gotten some great pics!
Riley was "kung fu fighting". He was dancing around having a great time. He was in one of his great lil' creative moods where everything was something better! Jarod was trying his hardest not to be totally annoyed with his little brother ;)

Hellol...

2009-08-01T10:57:00.002-04:00

Greetings and salutations my lonely little blog. Life has been a whirlwind of activities and busyness this last month. I have been doing a lot of overtime and just general busy summer stuff. I can't believe the boys start school in 12DAYS!! The summers just fly by. I hate the fact they start school so darn early. Who ever thought to start school in the middle of August should have there head examined!

Is this thing on....

2009-07-12T00:53:00.007-04:00

Not that anyone really reads this darn thing but I thought I would update it since I do go back and read it myself. Latest new....He made the team!! Jarod is really excited this is going to be an awesome season! The coach has great plans for the boys and Jarod is going to learn a lot! It will be a lot of hard work, like 3 days a week of practices and not the hour that was in the pass. He is ready for the challenge as I am too.
The summer is going by way to fast! The boys are growing like weeds and losing teeth left and right! Riley has lost three since the first week of summer, Jarod just lost two molars last week. I can't get over how big they are getting! I have been focusing on me and eating healthier and exercising more My plan once soccer starts I will take that time add walks during the practices. For right now I am doing stuff at home and we are also going to the park a few times a week. It's turned out to be a lot of fun for all of us. I am feeling healthier and I think just maybe the boys are learning from watching me...imagine that :)
Today was rainy all day which turned out to be perfect since I took them to the WonderLab. Now this is one cool place...made even better with the free passes I had for the boys. I could definitely see us doing this again. It was great to see them really interested and interacting with the way things work. Who knows...science might be in one of theirs future.

Long time no post

2009-07-03T12:13:00.002-04:00

Gosh the last few weeks have been a flurry of activities. Work has been beyond busy with the holiday and month end in the same week. Jarod had soccer tryouts this week. He decided to tryout for a new team in his current club. We find out hopefully today or this weekend if he made it. If not he will continue playing "up" on the team he played last season for. Even though this new team is his age level after speaking with the coaches it sounds like it will be much more training and learning which is what he wanted. The coach even used the term "premiere" team...sounds a bit impressive ;) I have decided to start working on getting healthier. I went and joined back at sparkspeople. I made the choice to step away from all the time I spent reading and following scrapbook sites and focus on healthier options. Healthier for my body, mind and wallet. The tracking really helps a great deal! I am finding I am definitely thinking twice about the food I am putting in my mouth and asking if I need it for nutrition or am I eating just for the sake of stuffing my face. Looking at calories and labels are a eye opener thats for sure! I tell you...once I look at the calories of something before I eat it I stop and ponder if it is worth eating. Also decided to take advantage of the Wii and play outdoor adventure for a workout! I am thinking of heading to Walmart for a stability ball to get next!

Fun in the sun

2009-06-20T16:41:00.001-04:00

Multimedia message
Originally uploaded by bizzybmama

The boys and I along with one of there friends went and spent the day at the pool. It was the perfect day! Warm but not a scorcher...and better yet no humidity! Sooo much fun to do this now that the boys are older and can do there own thing. Riley even got up the courage and went down the waterslide....ALL BY HIMSELF!! You don't know what a huge step it is for him! He is my cautious one....stuff like this he really has to work the courage and confidence in himself to do. We are definitely will be doing this some more this summer!

DUDE!....

2009-06-13T11:23:00.002-04:00

it's saturday morning and the sun is shining....

2009-06-13T09:48:00.002-04:00

the house is all quiet so i can hear the birds chirping and even a morning dove I think. Days that start likes this have to be a sign a good day is to come. I am drinking my coffee uploading some pictures to get printed. Hmmm... wondering what should be on the agenda today. The boys and I went to see Night at the Museum Battle at the Smithsonian last night. We loved it!! A ton of laughs...makes me want to go out and get the first one to re watch. I think it's one we might need to add to our video collection.

Wow!

2009-06-06T09:00:00.002-04:00

This weekend is the Indy Air Show and for long as I have lived out here I have always wanted to go. It seems like I am destined to make it there...one year! I am bummed that we are not able to go this year. The show dates had changed and I didn't get tickets in time :( One thing though that I can always count on is being able to see some sort of plane that is heading out to the airfield. For the last 5 out of 6 years I have worked in pretty much same spot. My current job is right on the other side of SR37 from my old job. So I knew I would hear the roar of a plane come by sometime today. The minute I heard these guys I grabbed my camera and ran out the door at work. Soooo glad that my desk is right by the front door but also LOVE that I have my p&s with me at all times now! I can always get pictures that I was otherwise missing! These 2 planes were LOUD when they flew by!! Not as fast as jets but really cool to see none the less! Once they were out of my sight I went and looked at the picture and once I saw the size of the propellers on them I knew WHY they were so loud! Hopefully next year we will get to go out to Mt Comfort Airfield and see them up close and personal. The Blue Angels are always there as well! I have seen them back in California during Fleet Week in San Fransico. The show they put on is awesome. I know the boys would LOVE it!

Hello Summer

2009-06-02T20:49:00.002-04:00

Coming home today and just look at the clouds..there are storms on the way. Gotta love the crazy Indiana weather. Never dull that's for sure.

From 365

The boys are officially on summer break! I know they both are excited to be out of school. Riley has been very much looking forward to getting to go to summer camp with Jarod. There is no playing video games most of the day but lots of activities and fun in the sun! Swimming 2x a week, field trips, taco and pizza days and plenty of games outside. They have a lot of fun and typically come home hot and dirty but full of stories about the days adventures. Today Riley FINALLY lost that darn snaggle tooth that has been hanging for the last few weeks. He refused to wiggle it because "it hurt". The first one came out while getting a drink from his water bottle. He was a bit upset because there was some blood so Riley recruited the help of his big brother. Together they got it out. Then later the kids were playing a game and Riley got tagged. During the fun and chaos he tripped and fell. When he did he hit the ground and out popped the 2nd one! I didn't even know that one was that loose...but then again the kid wouldn't let me even touch it! He now looks so gosh darn cute! A real jack o latern that's for sure. You can even see part of a new one already coming in.

We stopped by McD's on the way home to get a celebratory mcflurry and who'da thunk we'd see this in the Krogers parking lot....What do you think, maybe had to do a run for milk?

Let summerary it....

2009-05-23T02:30:00.003-04:00

He cracks me up with a few of his word pronunciations!

Field Day 2009

2009-05-22T23:53:00.006-04:00

Lovely weather today for a day of fun at school! Celebrating the end to yet another school year...soon will be saying goodbye to 4th grade and moving up! So happy I let him take the camera to school and get some great photos since I wasn't able to make it. It made me feel like I was there in spirit!

underdog...scores!

2009-05-20T23:37:00.003-04:00

This was my first time really following American Idol. From the start I was rooting for Danny all the way. I loved his voice and hoped he would go far which he did...all the way to the 3rd spot when he lost to Kris Allen. Everyone pegged Adam Lambert to win and while I knew he was good he just didn't win me over. I think it was the screaching/screaming high notes he did and his "artistic"approach to the music. Tonight watching the finales and seeing Adam singing with Kiss I had this idea that I could totally see him doing a modern day Rocky Horror Picture Show. He would be perfect for the main character. Anyways back to Kris....I had really liked him too and he really grew on me watching him progress farther into the competition. Having Danny lose to him wasn't a bad thing. I almost think Danny thought so too. So the talk the last week has been how Adam is going to win and all that stuff. I was soooo excited to see that didn't happen!! WHooohooo the underdog scores!! I think it showed a lot of the type of person though that Kris is when asked about winning it. He tells Ryan Seacrest that it should have been Adam. He was so humbled and in total shock that he won it!! Just like when he won over Danny. I can't wait to see what he comes out with because I could totally dig his music.

Think someone's tired?......

2009-05-18T23:27:00.001-04:00

A bit like Attack of the Killer 6yr old! ;)

Yeeeahaw!

2009-05-17T02:04:00.003-04:00

I did it! I finally figured how to do the 3 column thing. I knew I could just a matter of having the patience to do it. Lately patience has NOT been on my top ten list. I am just a bit tired and run down. We need a vacation...to some place warm and possibly with a beach. I need a change of scenery and a few hours of peace and tranquility to myself to recharge my batteries. Don't see it happening anytime in the future. I need to make it happen. I need to get my and the boy out of dodge and to a place that is full of fun and laughter. A couple months ago I fiddled with the idea of doing a disney cruise. Never pursued it but I am starting to make that a priority to get a vacation fund going. We need it...Until then I need to remember to find the road to happiness in the little things.
It was nice today to just do whatever. I finally ordered more RAM for the computer. Gosh I know it ran slow but I finally really looked into what I had and no wonder I want to throw the darn thing out the window.....256mb is pitiful. I went big and ordered 1gb. Hopefully it will make things wayyyyy faster! I might even be able to play with my pictures more and do some editing. Here's hoping that I can install it right. Heck if I can figure out how to make a 3 column blog I should be able to install some memory into our trusty computer.

music

2009-05-14T23:15:00.002-04:00

so i have a zune....i love my zune but i let my pass run out so i put it up for awhile not to hear my songs play. the other day i decide i want to listen again and go to find it. found the player but not the cable to charge it. i was bummed. and frustrated. frustrated because i know i put it someplace...you know that someplace that you don't want to lose it at only to, well you guessed it lose it. today low and behold...i found it. and charged it and paid for my pass. then my foot started tapping and my head soon joined in, before i knew it i was bouncing in my chair dancing as if i was good...which anyone can really master, while sitting in ones chair. so happy now..music just brought a smile to my day. its been a crummy loooooong week and well finding my trusty zune and listening to a few tunes has made me happy. i think so happy tomorrow i might actually get my fat butt up out of the chair and dance around ;) what songs make you happy...

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T13:26:00.002-04:00

the end of spring...soccer that is

2009-05-10T03:57:00.005-04:00

here they are ...having their last practice on thursday. later on they scrimmaged against the under 13 team. you could definitely see the difference in play between the 2 teams at first. the older players played a much faster more aggressive game. kudos to our team they soon got up to speed and gave them a run for their money. my #5 scored a goal against them...the score 2-1 before the coaches called time.

and I finally catch on film (barely!) one of several goals he made this season....7 or was it 8 overall. This was from last weeks game. I forgot the camera today! I know..the nerve! he made another totally awesome shot today too. went for it....and it went up and over the goal keeper just barely out of the reach of his outstretched hands.

he really has come into his own...he has worked hard at developing the speed and footwork needed to play. he was bummed that the season was coming to an end, in the same breath he asked "when do we start for summer?"....i am glad to have a bit of a breather...we don't start up again until mid july.

love the light that was shining in on this lil' guy. really loved how his room turned out. still need to work on the trim...maybe next weekend. just today we pulled a few boxes from his closet that we hid there while we painted. he was excited to rediscover them again. color and drawing has been his thing. i love see his little works of art and the details he puts into them.

i played today too...i am learning lots of new things over at the great class i am taking over at Got Crafts?... Eye for Design taught by Christy Tomlinson. I had been wanting to take a class to teach me some design principles to apply to my pages and maybe even into home decor. I only a few days into it and it is really having me look at things in a new light. I am lovin' it. Go check it out...
Eye for Design

In my next life I want to be a dog....

2009-05-03T22:58:00.000-04:00

That is spoiled rotten and has found a great home....like this one did!

By george....I think spring might be here

2009-04-26T12:42:00.004-04:00

The sun has been shining for the last few days. We have been having temps in the low 80's. It has been just gorgeous out! There has been a some breezes but it works out well because it's enough to keep you from getting hot. Jarod went on his full day PEAK field trip adventure yesterday. I had dropped him off at school bright and early at 715am!!! They had a FULL DAY of activities down in southern Indiana. The first stop was about 2hrs and 15mins away at Marengo Caverns. They then went to French Lick and visited the Train museum and had dinner on the train. They arrived back in town at 9:30pm. I was surprised he was as full of energy as he was! The first thing he asked me when he got off the bus was could he spend the night at his friends house. I told him he would have to pass because he had a game today.
While J went on his trip. I packed a picnic lunch and took Riley to one of his favorite spots...the Zoo!

the Hamster and the wheel...

2009-04-20T00:00:00.002-04:00

That's what I feel like lately....A hamster running on a wheel. My legs keeps going and going trying to get someplace but then find myself hours later in the same spot I was when I started. It has been a real challenge trying to get all that I want done in the time I have. There are just not enough hours in the day to get things done. For weeks I have been trying to chip away at all the cleaning and organizing stuff around the house that needs to get done. We don't have a big house quite the contrary it is on the small side!!! With working full time (with OT) getting to and from soccer practice, meals, the never ending pile of laundry it just never ends!! I seriously would love to have someone come clean my house every other week. Summer is upon us and then there is yard work that will need to be added to my list. I just don't have enough hours in my day to do all that I want. I no sooner get one room done and move to the next only to have boys/kids leave there mark behind. I know once summer comes it might get a bit better because they will be outside loads more than what they are now. At least in the summer we will be on a break from soccer. Don't get me wrong I love the whole soccer experience and watching the game. It's just coming to terms with not being able to get everything done that I want to. I am gaining a lot of progress on my craft corner. I hope to have it cleaned by tomorrow night so I can get working by mid week. I need to get out...and met people. I often wonder ...am I the only single 38 yr old mom with boys 10 and 6 in Indy? I swear I think I am!!! I need to find something to get me out and meeting other people. I am more the crazy soccer mom than the crazy cat lady. I guess the bright side is at least with soccer we are going to new places ;)

SWEET SATURDAY~!

2009-04-11T23:30:00.000-04:00

The spring season of soccer started today!!! Ironically it began on the fields we leftleft the fall season at last November. Best part though is that we are starting our season on a totally different foot!!!! A 9-2 WIN!!!....Not only that but Jarod SCORED TWO GOALS!!! It was an awesome game and what a way to start the season! The team looked fantastic, they played an awesome game. Great offense and even better defense. They really came out and PLAYED!!! It is such a great thing to see them all come together as a team and play!

By the time we got home from the game is was already going on 5 after I spent some time sweeping out the garage and cleaning up the dryer. Started the morning to a dryer that decided not to work even though it was working like a champ the night before. Naturally this happened only because I got most of the boys clothes washed and dried last night but didn't hardly touch any of mine for work. Should make for interesting choices Monday for work. Super Grandpa came out to look at it and found the problem. Only bummer....won't be fixed until Monday. Shucks....might have to wear jeans to work ;)

Later on the boys got busy with coloring the eggs. We do it the old school way of just dippin' in colors. Did try to tie dye a few ...rubber bands we had were a bit too thick. I grabbed some letter stickers and we spelled our names on a few. Those turned out cute. Jarod was able to make a few two toned. Riley loves to dip and retreive. We even made a golden egg...it's still drying but should be ready for the Easter Bunny to hide. I made some bags of candy coated popcorn to share with neighbors.

A fun filled day....VERY BUSY....I am exhausted...the house is in disarry in some rooms...mainly my bedroom. One day I am going to have a few hours to work on getting it back in order so that I might possibly do some crafting. I sure hope soon! I might have to take a day off work while the boys are still in school so that I can find the time to do it. With summer coming I have a feeling things are just going to get busier!

Not enough time...

2009-04-05T21:58:00.002-04:00

So I have been off work since Weds and it just wasn't enough time. I would love to have thought to have take Mon and Tues off as well. We didn't do a lot but enough that I am trying to play catch up. The boys and I went to the Extreme Makeover build site. What a totally awesome experience that was. We also did a lot of well deserved sleeping in and just relaxing. No real game plan or mission just a lot of playing it buy ear.
I did finally get around to painting Rileys room the blue that he was wanting. I have been on a quest to find a blue that wasn't too baby blue but n0t too dark because he room is smaller. I found a great shade that I loved but then discovered it was almost 30bucks a gallon....uh...no thanks. So I found another shade called Wild Blue Yonder....is a crayola color and the kids room dutch boy paint at 21.98 a gal was a lot easier to swallow than the 29.98 at Lowes for the Valspar. Have spend the last day and a half trying to get the house back in order. I really needed to get my craft corner cleaned and orgainzed better. It's been a bit teadious but it's slowly coming along.
For the last 3 days I have gone crazy trying to find a stupid book! I remember having it when I got a few others that I needed to mail from requests over at Paperback Swaps (love this site!)
I stopped getting them ready because it was getting late and I didn't want to wait for my computer. Also I needed to get a envelope to put them in or else wrap them to protect from the elements. I have YET to find that darn book!!! It really is bugging the crap out of me. I just had the darn thing!!! Where the heck it has gone is just beyond me!!! Whats frustrating is I bought a envelope and stamps and marked the book mailed.....and naturally I now can't find the darn thing!! OMG! It has to show up some time!! Right???

A day spent creating

2009-03-29T23:13:00.000-04:00

The weather may not have felt like spring outside but I finally got a chance to sit and play with some of my new stamps and also my big shot. I had such fun today doing this. I don't do it enough. I find myself feeling guilty for spending the day just playing with my craft goodies. I haven't scrapped in awhile....I think I am a bit burned out and needed to work with something new. So Stampin' Up stamps has been where I have been headed. I love the idea of making little goodies to share with others. I know I will make more stuf than I need but heck it so much fun.
I have NOT been good with my 365....What really holds me up is that I hate taking my nikon with me. It definitely isn't a small pocket size camera. Makes me really miss my little canon powershot. I have taken some pics with my camera phone. It takes pretty decent pictures suprisingly. I just have to develop them small....like the size of a wallet other wise they quality isn't nearly as good. I did pull out the camera last weekend and take some "action" shots of Riley. I love the 'blur" I created with them. Certainly not the best quality but I still like the effect.
Only have to make it thru 2 days this next week and then I am off on vacation! The boys and I want to try and get to the build for Extreme Home Makeover that is going on on the east side. Jarod was really excited about the idea of doing it. Hopefully we can get in on the action. Other than that we are playing it by ear. It's been a long time since I had a vacation. It will be good to just relax and do whatever we want with no hurry or time table to be someplace. Soccer has had us running around the last few weeks and it's not letting up anytime soon. We have one more indoor game this coming Saturday and then we start travel spring play the week following. Oh.....Jarod finally scored his first travel league goal last Saturday. He was soooooooooo excited!!!!!!! Made having to get up and be there at 830am on a Saturday totally worth it!!

GOOOAAAALLL!!!

2009-03-22T11:47:00.001-04:00

Multimedia message
Originally uploaded by bizzybmama

here he is right after the game...all hot & sweaty ;)
Finally!!!
After several long dedicated months Jarod scored his first goal on the travel team yesterday at 925am! OMG!! I was soo excited....He was sooo excited! In the last few weeks he has gotten sooo close to scoring only to just miss not anymore! I was on cloud nine that I got to see it!! I only wish was it was outside rather than in so I could have caught it on film(had to make do with the camera on my phone). With being indoors the nets are up all along the sidelines so it makes take decent pictures next to impossible...that and the really poor lighting. I just loved seeing him jump for joy and running towards his teammates for high fives!

playing....

2009-02-16T00:04:00.003-05:00

on facebook and playlist.com....I have been having fun with both the last day or two. I have discovered familiar faces from high school! Wow amazing how some people don't change that much and others... a lot! no work tomorrow...whooo hooo!! tonight i pulled some pics and paper and did a layout! whoaaa thats a first. I need to work on the journalling bits for my 365 album but i am darn near out of ink for my printer. i hate to get started and then run out...that would really suck! need to wait until next weekend to get more ink. i have been debating if i want to get a new printer or just use what i have. the idea of possibly printing pics at home more has me thinking of getting a new printer. still debating it. i most likely will just keep what i got and print those other than 4x6 prints at walgreens like i've been doing.

keep it up....

2009-02-11T01:38:00.002-05:00

with my 365 project....can't say that I have been sharing the love with my blog though. it's not like i have this huge following and anyone misses my not posting. i have been having fun with the 365 project and i must say...the last few days i have gotten some shots that totally surprised me. i finally ordered a new camera bag so i hope that will help in taking my camera more. i also got me a new camera strap too....looking forward to that..Oh and a remote for my camera as well so i can get in a shot now and then. next on the list a 50mm lens, sb400 speedlite and a tripod and i will be set! good thing my birthday is coming up in a few months.

the snow has melted but now i hear the rain falling. we have a storm coming thru tonight/tomorrow. at least its warm (50's) and not the negatives we had a few weeks ago.

a yo yo a go go

2009-01-17T22:10:00.002-05:00

So I signed up to take this great class Embellishments: Beautifully Handmade over at Get it Scrapped. I have been dying to learn some new techniques to step it up a bit. Unfortunately I have had NO luck finding anything nearby. When I heard about this online class I was totally jazzed! It's a total bargain too at $25! No way could I have found a class locally for that price....and have it last 5 weeks ....and learn TEN techinques!! Tuesday we started with yo yo's I have seen them before but never really tried my hand at them. Well....I think I might be getting hooked! They are so easy to do and soo cute! Not only that but I got my new SU order. When I saw this set I HAD to have it!!

Lately I have been liking the idea of cards and little goodies/gifts rather than scrappin. A bit of a break I guess you would say. Tomorrow I hope to play some more in my stuff. I wasn't able to do much with it today. The cold weather the last few days has had cabin fever set in with two certain boys. They are about ready to drive me batty!!! Here's hoping to a bit warmer day tomorrow so they can go and burn off some of that energy!

Nasville bound....

2009-01-11T22:41:00.001-05:00

For Christmas we got a nights stay at the Abe Martin Lodge in Nashville, IN. They just recently built a indoor water park so it was the perfect place to visit on a cold dreay January day. I was a bit worried about the weather because the reports had said there would be some icy rain ....YUCK and "winter mix" weather conditions. I haven't been out this way before but I knew the roads were a bit winding and didn't want slick conditions. We lucked out in that there was no ice but there sure was the FOG especially as we went down the "mountain" into the valley area that Nashville is located at.
It only took a little over an hour to get there which isn't too bad considering I got a bit turned around at first but quickly realized it and was able to get back on path. Once we got into Brown County we hit the downtown area of Nashville. It is a cute touristy type town that is full of shops and art gallery type buildings. Nothing 9 and 6 yr old boys would be interested in. Jarod discovered this great big rock and thought it looks really cool and took a picture of it. It looked like it was some type of quartz or somthing because it had that make up too it not like a normal rock is. We then walked around town for a bit and discovered one of several candy stores they have. The boys thought it was really neat to find candy that for cents ...can't really call it penny candies even though there were some that were actually a penny. I explained to them that way back when you could go into an old time store and the shop owner would give you a brown bag. You could then fill the bag full of candy for only a few cents.
As we were walking more ....towards the public restroom ;) Jarod spotted a cute little grey squirrel up in the tree. I had wished I had my zoom lens so I could have captured the little guy eating his nut up in the tree. What I found funny was this sign....just at the bottom of the tree he was in. I wonder.....do you think he has fun at the local tourist expense :)
After leaving downtown we headed to the lodge. I was a nice cozy little place. I would have loved to curl up in front of the fire they had burning and read a good book. The boys however were a bit more interested in finding the pool. It wasn't long before we found it and they were changed and in the water. We stayed for a while and then went and got some dinner. Guess where we went afterwards...yup you guessed it back to the pool. We did the same thing this morning after breakfast. Overall it was a fun time for all. Everyone is a bit worn and tired from the trip. I am wishing I had taken tomorrow off work but nope back to the ol' grind for me. To make things a bit more interesting we need to leave a little earlier to drop Curtis off at the vets to get snipped snipped. It's time for this guy to get neutered before he gets himself and others into trouble....especially Macaroni. Her time is schedule for later this month.
I did work on my 365 album today. I was thrilled to learn that Becky Higgins has made available templates you can use to create your own book for those that weren't able to get her kit....that would be me! I love this!!! What's even better is that I have been able to modify it to fit the 8.5x11 format I was wanting to use. I need to go and get more ink for both my picturemate printer and my main printer. I might hold off though on the main printer because I have been debating about getting a new printer so I can print large prints at home instead of just the 4x6 size I can do with my picturemate. It's one of the things I have been thinking about.

playoff bound

2009-01-03T02:04:00.002-05:00

Jarod was on cloud 9 last Sunday....he went with his "big brother" to his first Indianapolis Colts game at the new Lucas Oil Stadium. We have watched the progress of the new stadium being built and I always wanted to one day see Jarod get to go. The dream came true for both of us. Just from the looks of this picture it looks as if it as beautiful as I thought it would be. He came home totally excited about the whole experience!!! Best part.....the Colts beat the Titans and are headed to the playoff game Sunday in San Diego.
Now if I can just talk the kid into getting his bangs trimmed. I don't think he will do it himself again :)

Thanks California....

2009-01-02T00:42:00.003-05:00

I would just like to thank the state of California for the hard work and dedication they have put into seeing that my children get the support they need....

County: CONTRA COSTA
Role: CUSTODIAL PARTY
Status: OPEN
Opened Date: 03/31/2004
Monthly Support: $ 600.00
Total Arrears: $ 22,237.23

It's nice to see the system at work....the non custodial parent is not employed but is living at home with his mom and dad with not a care in the world. Must be nice not to worry about how your house payment/rent is going to be made, how your going to afford the food/clothing growing children need, let alone the impending reality of braces in the near future. I have provided information to his whereabouts so he can be held accountable. Diddle squat is what they have done....We can't find him to serve him the papers to appear they tell me. Gee if I owed that much money I don't think I would be going to them. California has done nothing to "find" him that's for sure. I certainly know my family would not be "harboring" a dead beat I know that for sure. It's time for no more missus nice gal....he needs to be held accountable. He certainly shouldn't be doing this....

Thanks Arnold.....so much for being the terminator....you need to focus more on terminating deadbeats from avoiding there responsibilities.

Rileyisms......

2008-12-28T02:28:00.002-05:00

During a nerf gun battle.....

don't Jarod for serious..... meaning....Don't Jarod I am serious :o)

Today at the Starbucks drive thru

Me: Can I have a venti Carmel Machiatto

Riley: Why do they have chinese drinks here

I couldn't help busting up laughing!! God I love this kid :)

I have seriously neglected my lil' blog as of late. The holidays just snuck up and took me by surprise. The tree came down Friday. I had to ...I was besides myself watching the poor thing get battered by the darn cat. Curtis really did a number not only on the tree but several ornaments. I did pick up a few new ones at Cracker Barrel friday night along with a really cute Santa. Today I got a new tree skirt because the current one was a casualty of the Curtis, Macaroni, Max debacle.

moments

2008-12-17T00:49:00.002-05:00

This month has been just a whirlwind. Work has been very busy for me. There doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day for me to accomplish things I would like to do. I haven't done hardly any baking this year. I was really wanting to focus on having the Christmas spirit alive. it seems like the month has flown by and I haven't done what seems like a lot of things. I would have loved to been able to take a few days off before the holiday but I knew that wasn't going to happen at work. Just feel blessed that I have a job and well with the extra work I at least like to think of it as job security. I have discovered how to use overlays with Paint.net . I love that I discovered this free program. I hear it has a lot of the same functions as PSE but its FREE and not 80bucks. Besides I don't think my computer could handle PSE. I need to download my pictures. Here's a glimpse of what our month has been like....

Jarod had to make a log cabin for school. It turned out to be a fun activity for us to do! Spent a few hours working on it but I think it turned out great. His teacher must of thought the same thing since he brought home a A+ for it!

Riley hasn't missed a day on filling Santa's beard. He loves this thing! I was telling him the other day that we still needed to see Santa. He tells me I wrote him a letter I don't need to see him. I will see him on Christmas eve on his motorcycle. This cracked me up! That is one memory that will stick with him forever I think...the year he saw Santa downtown on Christmas eve riding his motorcycle around the Circle.

This past Saturday we went to the afternoon showing of the Polar Express....in 3D IMAX no less we had a great time!!! I wished it wasn't sooo gosh darn windy and cold that day. This prevented us from wandering around the circle a bit. Hope it works out for Christmas Eve. I have to work but hopefully won't have to stay too long..blech!

This weekend my plan is to do some serious cookie baking. I want to do the whole shebang and decorate them. Maybe make a few oreo truffle balls. We might do those tomorrow so I can take them to work for Friday. I have lots of ideas of stuff....its just finding the time! there never seems to be enough hours in the day!

The best it's going to get

2008-12-09T19:53:00.001-05:00

I won't tell you the number of photos I have tried to take of these two lil' dorks.....I will just say A LOT and some how they all end up out of focus, missing limbs other important body parts or various critters getting into the frame (all of which the same problems happend to them). Naturally when you get two brothers at this age in such close proximity of each other you know a wrestling match will soon ensue...and yes...I got lots of pictures of that too!

TGIF!!!

2008-12-05T20:31:00.003-05:00

Done with another week....boy it was a loooong one too! I have some work that I should go in and work on this weekend. Job security is what I call it that and the overtime doesnt' hurt. Question is....will I go in?? If I do it might be Sunday. Time will tell...that and how Jarod and I do with his log cabin project that is due Monday. He has ideas bouncing around in his head of what he wants to do. We have a bag full of sticks that we got on our walk thru the park last week.

I am planning some fun holiday things for us to hopefully do this weekend. There is baking to be done. I really love baking and make goodies for the Christmas season. I would make about 20 different kinds if I had the time and money to make them all. The yummy cream cheese sugar cookies I discovered last year will be a must!! I have a bunch of new cutters this year too. I would love to decorate them with the boys. I know Riley would have a blast as would Jarod.

I was about to go and buy a bunch of christmas songs to listen to at work or even home. Then it dawned on me ....HELLO can you say PLAYLIST???? Best part .....its FREE!!! Granted you have to be on the internet but heck I am there anywas :)

Its a nice quiet evening at home for us. Its REALLY REALLY cold!!! Like a whopping 19 degrees when we left in the morning.....and now its all of 17! They are mentioning snow. Whether we actually see it or not is a different story. I know that I have my pot of coffee sitting on the burner to help keep me warm. The boys have there blankets they are curled up under. We have Harry Potter and the Sorrcerer Stone on tv. Earlier we watched a favorite... Santa Claus is Coming to Town. ABC Family is a great station this time of year. I love the 25 days of Christmas and all the holiday shows they play. We did miss the Grinch, the original version, the other night so that was a bummer. I need to find Home Alone on CD during our run to the store tomorrow. We have to watch that!!! I wouldnt' be the Christmas Season without it. :)

Just a matter of time...

2008-12-05T00:17:00.002-05:00

I knew it was bound to happen....We walked in the house this evening to discover the christmas tree was knocked down on the middle of the living room floor. I thought it was typical of cats...both were sitting near by just looking at me as if to say "what's your problem". There were ornaments strewn across the room. Anything that was round or sparkly was considered a new toy. Needless to say I think we are definately going to have to buy a new tree for next year. I seriously doubt this one is going to make it in one piece * well thats really ironic because everyone knows fake trees have lots of "pieces" too them. As it stands...or should I say falls right now...there are lots of bent branches and needles all over. I thought part of having a fake tree was no needles. Here's hoping that next year a certain cat will have outgrown the christmas tree is just one big sparkly play toy for me.

My favorite time of the year....

2008-12-03T22:52:00.007-05:00

I love this time of year. Something about having your tree up with all the colorful lights just makes you day a little more happier. We all love sitting in the living room with only the lights from the tree and the ones outside on. It just makes for such a happy cozy area. I would love to have them year round!
I tried to get a few pics of the boys and the rest of our crew. I wanted to have the flash off so that it would give that warm cozy glow to it. Well ...it wasn't happening. I just ended up with a bunch of fuzzy out of focus pictures. I really hope Santa brings me a tripod for christmas. I would then run out and get me a remote. I would be set then!!! Even with the pics fuzzy and out of focus I still love these ones. It just makes me happy seeing the boys having fun with it. Also pretty soon the boys will outgrow the tree. I definately have to get a new tree...a bigger one!! this lil' skinny 6' isn't cutting it! As you can see ....I will be surpised if it even makes it this year. We have a new lil' addition and well....HE LOVES climbing in the tree! It is a constant battle with him. The poor star is all lopsided and crooked from all the shaking the poor tree is getting. I think come christmas our tree is going to resemble the one Charlie Brown had.

One of my favorites..

2008-11-30T23:19:00.002-05:00

We put up the tree this weekend along with the spiral trees outside and lights in the windows. One of my favorite things during the holiday season is sitting in my living room with all the lights off and just have the twinkle of the tree and outside lights. There is something that is just so magical about this setting. You can't help but get in the holiday spirt when there is the twinkle of these pretty lil' lights. This year I went along with the boys and did the multicolor lights on the tree. I love the white lights it just makes everything seem a bit more cozy having the white lights. I admit I had a hard time embracing the multi colors. I think some of it had to do with the fact that I got a few new things for decorations. I found a pretty cream velvetly skirt with gold trim, matching ribbons, ornaments along with some pretty red and gold ornaments. I put the new skirt under the tree but I just wasn't digging it with the multi lights. So my new stuff went back into the box in hopes of coming out next year. I think I need to get a skirt for multi lights and one for white lights. There is a different in the ambience you get with the color lights you choose. Tonight I am loving our little tree and all the pretty lights twinkling. I am also even happier that there is not cat climbing up the tree....Yes we have had quite a problem with that this year. Not only climbing the tree but also trying to nibble on the lights. Never a dull moment thats for sure ;)

I went ....I conquered.....I saved!!!

2008-11-28T21:13:00.004-05:00

Yes today I woke bright and early at 420am to head to Walmart for the Black Friday sale. I had a few things that I was really hoping to get and save some great money on!!! If it wasn't for the sale I most likely would not have bought the stuff for the boys. As it was I save sheesh at least 50% on the things I did score. When I first got out of my car and was walking to the store all I could think of as I saw the PACKED parking lot was....."I must be smoking crack to be doing this". I was expecting to have to wait outside for the store to open and then do the mad dash to what it was I was looking for. I was surprise to see that they were letting people in the store. What they did was have the pallets lined up all down the main aisles. The pallets were covered in black shrink wrap so that you couldn't see what was in them. If you got lucky you found one of the workers that had "The List" that showed what number was what product. I found the one thing I really wanted and was right there by the shelf. There were 4 other moms hovering. One lady had her hands resting on the item she was looking for (thank goodness it wasn't what I wanted) I was chatting and joking with the other women. Me and another mom couldn't quite get in front of a rack so the mom that was was nice enough to grab and just hand us the items. After we got several we were able sort out so that we all had what we needed. I then headed over to a few other items. I scored!! There were only 2 or 3 things I didn't get to but I decided it wasnt' that important. I wanted to get to the checkout before they were too crowded. While in line I was talking to another woman when I glanced to see what time it was. I was very surprised to see it was only 5:30am!!! I couldn't believe how fast the time went!! I thought I was there sooo much longer than that!! Time flies when your having fun! It was really a fun morning!! Having everyone be so cordial and polite really made it so worth it!! There was no grabbing, yelling, shoving that I was expecting. I hear that was over in the electronic dept...the area that you couldn't pay me to go near!!! I did learn that really it ideal to have someone else with you so you can take advantage of great deals and also cover different areas of the store. So my lesson I learned today......I think I will plan on doing this again next year :) I then went back tonight and spent even MORE money there......I needed to grocery shop in a bad way. It turned out that the store was empty....the calm after the chaos! :)

Complete....finally!

2008-11-25T22:32:00.002-05:00

So i got this photo holder a few months back. I just loved the idea of it when I bought it. However once I got it I didn't have enough stuff to complete it. I wanted it to have a streamline look using all one line/mfg of paper. I didn't really know how I wanted to go about finishing it. Then I heard about the online project plus class that Ali was doing over at Big Picture Scrapbook. For 12 bucks I got my moneys worth....inspiration and a few great templates.... A few hours doing some serious scrapping and ta da! I am finally finished. I love how it turned out. That WIP sept kit (I think it was sept) was just what I was looking for! THe colors were perfect for the living room!
Check my flickr acct to see more >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12553515@N07/sets/72157610056981439/

okay okay....

2008-11-21T22:09:00.001-05:00

so i failed the a post a day for thirty days....pathetic i know..but seriously i didn't think my life was really that interesting to post daily. besides i really have been busy lately, but that really isn't anything new :o)

Don't you just love them!!!

2008-11-11T18:14:00.003-05:00

I just sooo {LOVE} my new frames!! They are just what
I was looking for!

I just love the polka dots :) don't mind the finger prints ;)I was trying to get a better picture with the self timer...can you guess what a certain kid was trying to do! :o)

Just another monday.....

2008-11-11T00:27:00.002-05:00

Just a typical monday back to the ol' grind. The weather is definately turning towards winter. It reached a whopping low 40's today. There are MORE leaves on the ground...this time of year I think we will never get caught up. I have a pile about 20-25' long by 3-4' high and wide. Yes we get a ton of leaves. Nowhere nearly as bad as grandfolks do...thank goodness for the vacuum attachment for the ride on lawn mower.
I started working on my countdown to christmas/merry days album. I ended up making my own cover with some chipboard and felt. It looks pretty cute so far. I need to work on the inside pages. The boys are going to spend the weekend with grandma so I have the weekend to do anything I want to do ....yIPPEE!!! I think a trip to JoAnns, Archivers and possibly Hobby Lobby are in store. I had an idea that I want to make them some pajama pants for christmas. These are simple enough to sew and I like the idea tha I can say I made them. I bet there's some cute flannel and polar fleece material out there. Now if I could find a coupon I would be set!

Did i make it

2008-11-10T00:52:00.000-05:00

almost forgot to post...but remember to drop a quick line. heading to bed now. nice day ...finished raking the leaves, visited with grandfolkds, did a load or two of laundry. ready for the new week...sort of. ;)

A few visitors stopped by today

2008-11-08T22:08:00.006-05:00

I was in the living room late last night and thought I heard something in the garage...I admit I wasn't fully comfortable with going to investigate on my own so I had Max join me. I had an idea on what I thought might be out there. Lo & behold sure enough I was right. Only when I first found him he wasn't here. But rather completely inside the bag of cat food I keep in the garage. I knew it! I had this happen a few years ago and Snoopy went running the other direction when I opened the garage door and found one of his friends staring right back at me. Needless to say Max and I shoo'd him this far. Once he was corned he wasn't going anywhere. He just kept trying to look mean and menacing, Max and I totally saw thru his act. I opened the big garage door and the door that he came through & just waited. 45mins later the bugger was still in the same spot! This morning I checked and was happy to find we were rid of him or is it her. Honestly with as ugly as this buggers are they have to be all males! Yes....we have the back door closed now.

We finally had to drag out the rakes today and work on the lawn. Well more like 2 rakes and 1 snow shovel (note to self...buy another rake for the boys ;) ) You could see no grass under the leaves! I think they all fell at one time which really I would prefer to have. Otherwise we, what am I saying more like I am out all the time trying to get them all cleaned. I am happy to report the boys are now officially old enough to help...finally!! This is our 5th autumn and I finally have BOTH of them willing to help!! We made good work of it too... that is until Jared arrived to get Jarod. Riley and I still worked for a bit longer and I got a few of my traditional fall pics.

Riley and I still worked for a bit longer and I got a few of my traditional fall pics. During our time out there we had yet another visitor. I don't know where he came from but he sure was happy to be running around and was a really nice guy just a bit overally excited is all which cause Riley to freak a bit. Ever since Jarod got bit from the dog across the street he gets VERY scared when he sees dogs just running loose. As you can see this was a pretty good size guy. He really just wanted to play.

tgif

2008-11-07T21:42:00.002-05:00

ahhhh i am glad that it's time for the weekend, especially since we don't have much planned. after the last few weeks of being on the go it's nice to just have a weekend of nothing. well it's not really nothing since there is a yard covered in leaves. i mean covered...to the point you can't see the lawn or the front porch. its just a big field of yellow maple leaves. that means some time this weekend i have to become motivated to rake. i will recruit my little helpers but i believe one will be a bit more helpful than the other. we need to stop by the library tomorrow and return books. a book we had on hold came in...perfect timing too since the books we need to return are due. then later in the afternoon i need to go get my eye exam done. need to find new glasses as well...hopefully grandma will be able to watch riley otherwise i might just go back later to pick frames i don't want to rush trying to find them. might even remember to bring my current frames so they can fix them. that might be a bit too easy though ;)
i want to work on some crafty projects just not sure where to beginning. i have stuff but need inspiration. i might work on a countdown to christmas album so i have it all ready to go come december. once again i have great intentions just a matter if i follow thru. i know if i can just get going the mojo will soon flow...just gotta find that certain something that peaks my interest (and is free for this weekend anyways ;) )

Whoops..

2008-11-06T22:00:00.004-05:00

So much for a post a day....Didn't get to do it because of some "technical difficulties". It's been a stressful week so far. Whenever the words "restructure" come up at work you know it does NOT mean good things are coming. I feel blessed I wasn't a part of it but still it is very difficult knowing that others were not. My hopes and prayers are that with the election of Obama things will have to begin to change!!! As a country we need some major changes. Things have just been spiraling downward that I pray that they don't get even worse before they get better. I don't think my stress level can take it. It doesn't pan out well for a struggling single mom that has to deal with a deadbeat ex. Not all of us can live with mommy and daddy and not have to work. No worries about bills or rent/house payment. If money is need we just go the the Mommy/daddy ATM. I don't know how as parents they can condone this. I say that it is a good thing they are better parents that he is because they are supporting their son which is more than he can say. But on the other hand I have lost all respect for them...and allowing this. How they can continue to support him ...enable is really the better word... when he has children that he doesn't care about or support any any way is just pretty down right disgusting in my book. It just makes me want to scream at times.

The proof...

2008-11-04T20:59:00.001-05:00

Multimedia message
Originally uploaded by bizzybmama

is in the sticker ;o)

VOTE...

2008-11-04T20:58:00.001-05:00

Multimedia message
Originally uploaded by bizzybmama

Here is hoping that everyone went and cast there vote today. I was lucky...I love my little polling place. It took longer for them to find me in the books than it did waiting in line. It is isn't hard to tell that Indiana is a majority republican state, a far cry from CA.

Back to the daily grind

2008-11-03T23:41:00.003-05:00

Going back to work today seemed like a day off after the busy weekend we had. It was really nice to get back the normal routine. The house still needs a lot of attention to it but after working all day and a stop to walmart it was after 7 by the time we got home. Needless to say dinner was low key. I have several chores that need to be done but I honestly am hoping that I can keep brushing them to the side until possibly the weekend. What are we going to do now that soccer is over! Well at least until after the holidays.
Speaking of holidays I am trying to get some ideas going on things I might want to make/create. ALways looking for something new and fun!

Seriously.....

2008-11-02T12:39:00.001-05:00

I think this lens is bigger than she is!! She was a tiny thing too...maybe 5' if even that! I don't even want to know what that lens set her back! This is one of the moms from the opposing team. Either she is some serious scrapper or photographer but I just can't imagine how much this sucker cost. It is like twice the size that I have (70-300mm). Now I am curious and I have to do a bit of research.

Fall Festival

2008-11-01T22:02:00.002-04:00

We started the day bright and early, out the door at 7am for Jarod's
first soccer tournament. 2 days filled with soccer...four games total. We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was a bit chilly for our first game but by the 2nd it was beautiful out!
Tomorrow is another full day. Thank goodness for "Fall Back" and gaining a hour. First game isn't until 9am...whooo hooo we can sleep in a extra 30 mins or so!

For some reason I just love this picture....

I am using my "kit" lens tomorrow. I was almost too close to the action for my zoom and honestly I wasn't awake enough to mess with manual focus and settings. Editing can only help so much ;o)

2008-10-31T23:24:00.000-04:00

Have a Spootakcular Halloween!

2008-10-30T23:24:00.000-04:00

Zipadeedoodah

2008-10-30T00:19:00.002-04:00

Oh my has it been a busy week this week. With work, soccer practices, teacher conferences, month end and halloween coming I don't know whether I am coming or going. I am just trying to keep it all organized and running smoothly to prevent any big bumps in the road.
Today I met with Rileys kindergarten teacher and got a great report. He really got a great teacher this year which I am ever so grateful for. She really understands Riley and works with him and his needs. I was worried that he might get a teacher that wasn't willing to work with him. He so didn't need a teacher that wants it there way only. He has really thrived and loves school. I can see such a big improvement and change in the way he is seeing things. Somedays I think keeping him at the preschool he was at was good but then also bad. I am learning he really likes the structure and schedule that he gets from school. He likes the routine and learning. He didn't have as solid of a learning enviroment that Jarod had. I think though that now Riley needs that. Earlier on though I think having him pushed towards it might have not been as good for him. His teacher thinks he is going to be a great student. We both agree that his behavior might be his downfall. Not so much the behavior as his way of dealing with things..the stubborn streak he has. I pray that he continues to have teachers that recongize the potential he has and not judge him by his stubborn streak. He has great potential but I knew this ;) She also thinks he will be a great reader and I totally see that as well! Just tonight it was sooo cute. I caught him sitting on the couch trying to sound out the word Bean on the LL Bean catalog I got in the mail. He was so totally on the right track! Tomorrow is Jarods turn. Besides that we have soccer practice then come home and carve pumpkins! Jarod wasn't big on a costume this year. He is going as a soccer player..sooo original! Riley is a mummy. I am worried that I might not have time to put it all together with having to work late for month end. Worse case scenario I am taking the boys trick or treating and then head back to work to finish up. This weekend is filled with soccer!! Jarod will be playing his first tournament....four games worth in 2 days!! It should be interesting to say the least ;) I hope the weather warms up a bit...830am games in 35 degree weather is not my idea of fun!

I love fall......

2008-10-27T00:23:00.001-04:00

What a beautiful day it turned out to be. Riley spent the night at grandma's last night. I had some work to do for a friend and then also went into my work yesterday. I ended up staying up way too late last night work on some goodies for the boys for their class. I drug my lil' scrap table out to the living room and worked there which turned out to be nice. I was able to watch tv while I worked and didn't feel like I took the entire room over with my stuff. Jarod and I got to sleep in which was really nice. Funny how quiet a house is without a 5.5yr old waking at the crack of dawn. Even Jarod mentioned it was quiet this morning. Once we woke up and got dressed. I grabbed some of the apples from our picking last weekend and headed to grandmas. I wanted to make either an apple crip or a tart. I had to run to Walmart for a few things so I headed over while the boys stayed with grandma. Once in the store my cart soon became filled with other items. I had initially planned to have the boys take a tootsie roll pop that I had decorated with my cute lil' SU set. (I love this darn set! ;) ) Well I really wanted to do something fun for them to share so I got some candy and made goodie bags for them to bring. Later Jarod and I worked in the kitchen together making the tarts. He did a great job peeling the apples and learned how to core them as well. After putting the tarts together we had some leftover apples so I showed him how to make fried apples. Boy they turned out good. We ended up with more of the carmel sauce than apples. I thought why not drizzle some over the tart and so I did after it came out of the oven.
Once we got home we took Max for a much needed walk. I am really trying to work to get in the habit of doing this. Not only does he seem a lot happier for it but I certainly can use the exercise. The boys typically...well always... bring bikes and scooters along. Works out great because I can do a brisk pace and they don't straggle behind. Even though it was a bit windy it was great for walking. The late afternoon sun through the trees of our neighborhood was just beautiful. I really love this time of year.
This week is going to be a busy one. Ww=e have soccer practice (2x)for the tournament next weekend, teacher conferences both Weds and Thurs, month end at work on Friday...and cross your fingers I can get done early enough for trick or treating Friday night. Riley is really excited about it....Jarod he isn't really that into. Halloween and trick or treating really has changed since I was a kid.

Hot Dog and the Bun....

2008-10-25T10:43:00.002-04:00

We had yet another run in last night with the Wienermobile!! How fun is that!!! Riley spotted it this time. We were coming over 70 on the way to Plainfield when I heard him say "Its the hot dog and the bun". I was like what the heck??? I didn't know what he was talking about since I was trying to focus on driving. Jarod was like Yeah mom look!!! I took a quick glance over the side and sure enough there it was sitting way back near the Holiday Inn Express (it was around 6:30pm). I naturally had to get over there so we could get a good look up close. I was seriously bummed that I only had my camera phone which you can tell by the pic the zoom is not very good! Next time I know not to use it! Riley and I got out and checked out all the cool features on it. I was sooo glad because last time we saw "Big Bun" (this is another Wienermobile) 2yrs ago in Bloomington Riley wanted nothing to do with it! I would sooo love to see the inside of one up close and personal ....and also get a wienerwhistle ;) I read and discovered there are 6 wienermobiles that travel around the country so we have seen 2 of the 6. I would love be able to say we have seen all 6 of them! :o)

Someone make it stop!!!

2008-10-19T23:33:00.002-04:00

Fall Frolics

2008-10-19T09:22:00.005-04:00

The last few days fall has finally made a real appearance here for us. I just love this time of year. Love the changing of the leaves, the crisp cool days, sunshine filtering thru the trees with the glorious colors. I think this has to be one of my favorite times of years. Everything about it is a far cry then what I grew up with in California. I also love seeing all the decorations people have up in their homes and yards. I just slowly started jumping in on that bandwagon. I have been slowly buying fun new things for the home.
Yesterday we started our morning off at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Man oh man did we time it right. We have never gone before where we didn't have a bit of a wait. Never been a problem because we look around the store for all the fun goodies they have to sell. This Saturday morning we were seated right away! Best part was we got a table right near the warm fire! I was kicking myself for leaving my phone at home (has a camera) and my camera in the car. I was sooo tempted to get a picture of it. We ended up filling our bellies with warm delicous fall inspired breakfast to fuel us for apple picking. After our meal we head to Anderson Orchard to pick apples and possibly get pumpkins.
When we got to the orchard they only had 2 types of apples left to pick Ida Reds and Winesaps. Another perk...they were half off too! I was a bit leary that there wasn't going to be enough to pick. The rows of Ida Reds we went down didn't have too many big ones left. Finally we found a row of Winesaps. I had the boys head down to the end of the row figuring people picked from the front and didn't get all the way down. Sure enough we found a few trees that were PACKED with big beautiful crips apples!We ended up getting 2 bags full!! I would have gotten more if we had another bag :) I still can't get over all the apples we picked and only paid 6 bucks! The boys had such fun running around finding apples. The apple picker was a big hit! I can definately see this being a new yearly tradition for us.
Turns out the only had pumpkins already picked in an area near the store. We decided to pass on this because it was NOT the same as our yearly trek to Watermans Farm where we tromp thru the field after a hay ride to find our pumpkins. We are going to tackle that today.
After the orchard we went to the library and checked out a few books. Jarod found 3 new titles that I know he will finish in now time! Riley got a few halloween stories and a halloween craft book. I am going to look thru that and see what we can find. I found 2 books also and hope to get to read them. Next we went to Wally World for pie crust and a few other things. Once we got home I started peeling and chopping for the applesauce I wanted to make. I even made my first apple pie which turned out ok for a first time run.

Classic Rock

2008-10-13T21:20:00.005-04:00

So we are driving home tonight and Jarod is telling me about his day. He goes on to tell me about his friend and this guy in this band. He's a guitar player and he has some sort of disease that makes his back hunch over. He looks like the hunchback when he plays. I continue listening as the story unfolds. Jarod goes on and tells me that this guy is in this band called Motley Crew. I know he is thinking I have no clue who this. Au contraire my dear son, I was once a huge fan. Next thing I know I am reliving a bit of my youth with my almost 10yr old son a few things I know. He was like really, and goes on to share with me some of the song names he has learned from his friend. I was like Yeah I know that song and then feebly attempt at singing the songs.(I need the music so that I can truly relive my glory days!) I think I scored a few points in the cool mom dept today. It isn't that long ago I was young and was blasting the music super loud on my walkman. After dinner and playing outside until it got dark Jarod comes in gets on the computer to go Playlist.com. He is looking to find some of the songs he heard about. I didn't even let the "They are from like the 80's" comment make me feel old or just a bit ago him coming in to say that they are considered Classic Rock...Seriously it was only like 20 some odd years ago....and didn't totally ruin the moment with my measly attempt at singing...even though I know I could still rock out a good couple of versus given the proper accompaniment. I won't tell him just yet what the lyrics are about. I honestly as a kid never paid attention to the "meaning" of the lyrics but more the music. And besides...I turned out ok...well except for the phase when I had big hair just like Jon Bon Jovi in the late 80's ...ahh to be 17 again, to be young and have a can of Aqua Net near by. :)

There's a bit of crafting going on here

2008-10-12T19:43:00.002-04:00

I have been having a very productive weekend! We stayed home ALL weekend, only went out once and that was to return videos last night and get a ice cream cone from Mickey D's. Not only did I decorate my blog a bit but I also made a few crafts for the house. Next weekend we are going to the pumpkin patch and I might see about getting some mums and a bale of straw for the porch. Seems like I am a bit late but its more fall decorating and not so halloweeny.
This is what you see when you come into our house. I want to get a few more things to make along with some candy to go in the kitty's mouth.

Speaking of kitties...we found a home for the last one today!! Now to get Macaroni to the vet to be spayed! I don't want to do this again ;)

Sunday

2008-10-12T09:51:00.004-04:00

Sunday morning ...took the kids for a walk around the neighborhood. I am going to give myself a goal of walking everyday. I need to make the time. It only takes a few minutes but I feel loads better afterwards. I don't think anyone will starve if I delay making dinner by a few minutes and better yet I think everyone will reap the benefits of it. I need to get diet and exercise back in perspective. Being a sloth is not good ..for anyone. As much as I would prefer to have a gym to head off to or even a treadmill at home those just are not in the game plan right now. It's about making do with with you got.
During the walk we went by some evergreen trees. Man they smelled good. It served as yet another reminder that the holiday season is quickly upon us. I still need to work on the goodies I was hoping to make for halloween. I did get my banner completed that I wanted so I am sort of getting there :) Baby steps.
Not having anything to do or places to go this weekend has really been a breath of fresh air, a treat of sorts. The weather has been gorgeous so the boys have been playing with friends in the neighborhood. This keeps them happy and occupied, and it leaves me to play and dabble with the crafty stuff I have been wanting to do :)
Here's a bit of what I have been up to this weekend.

Just like her mama

2008-10-12T01:41:00.003-04:00

This morning the sound of a cat rustling around my desk of scrap stuff woke me up. It was early that I know for sure because it was still dark out. Macaroni is notorious about getting on either my dress or my scrap table and just start knocking stuff off. It drives me crazy!!! Mainly because she chooses to do this before the sun comes up. It just bugs me...not only being woken before the sun comes up, especially on the weekend, but then having to clean up all the crap she has knocked to the floor. Many of times things get lost because she knocks them down and the end up under the dresser or my bed. Just a bit ago I discovered....the habit must be genetics! GRrrr! Note to self...shut door so as not to tempt the kitties.

Dont mess w/me

2008-10-06T02:15:00.001-04:00

Dont mess w/me
Originally uploaded by bizzybmama

I have discovered how to upload my pics from my phone.....look out! And don't mess with him......You can't handle this 5yr old! :)

HOCKEY!!!!

2008-10-05T20:35:00.000-04:00

Hockey season started yesterday for the Indiana Ice. The boys and I really have a great time going to the games. Since it was opening day yesterday they had some fun things going on before the game. Getting to play a lil' "street" hockey I think was one of the favorite things....right along side the jumping house. The team has pretty much all new players only like 4 or 5 are from last year so we are having to learn the names and numbers for who's who. I broke down and bought us all shirts since I know we will be back again...and we can finally show our support.
Yesterday made for a very loooong day. We had an away game for soccer up in Kokomo which is about 65 miles from us. The team played their best game to date!! The coach thinks they are going to be a force to be reckoned with come spring. Jarod has made some fantastic progress!!! He is the youngest player on the team (it's a U11 game) most are in 5th grade and well he is only in 4th. The team yesterday had some pretty good size kids one of which Jarod was defending against. This boy was about 4 or 5" taller than him and outweighed him by a good 20lbs. Didn't stop my lil' star. He hung right in there with him and gave the kid a run for his money.....even after a play where there was a bit of a pile up and he fell on Jarod! All I could think was poor kid he's too skinny to be on the bottom of that dog pile. The team looked awesome though yesterday!! They all played a FANTASTIC game!! They should be extremely proud of themself because they gave it their all!

I sure hope we get out of this cheesy smile phase soon Riley :)

My week....day one

2008-09-29T13:53:00.000-04:00

A week in my ordinary life...day one is inspired by Ali Edwards. She taught a class with this theme several years ago and now she's sharing it with her blog readers. This is my day so far....I just realized I have more pictures but they are on my other memory card. I need to download them....will do that in a bit. Overslept this morning by almost an hour. Then as we are getting ready to leave J says his head hurts really bad, he was on the verge of tears.. Yesterday afternoon he was throwing up and not looking very good. I checked in on him after he went to bed and he seemed warm. I wasn't sure if it was a fever or him under too many blankets. So I go and feel his forehead. Sure enough he is hot....thermometer shows 100.1. Make another call to work to report this (called like 5 mins earlier to tell them I overslept and was running late). He curled back in bed and slept gosh until about a hour or so ago. Looks better came out from under the blankets sweaty but looking a bit better. His eyes still have dark circles under them and he doesn't look 100% still. I am a bit concerned because it was just a few weeks ago he was burning up with a fever. Still waiting to hear back from the doctors. In a bit it's off to get R from school. He was soooo worried about going on the bus to daycare after school. He thought the driver wouldn't know where to drop him off. He was really really concerned by this so I told him I would pick him up. This really set his mind at ease. Got our lawn mowed....freaked a bit when I saw some man I didn't know walking around our backyard. He had headphones on and didn't hear me when I called out to him. I started to head outside to see what he wanted when I saw the truck in the front yard ....whew that made me feel a lot better!