Just a slice, please

Crop fun!

Yesterday's charity crop for my sweet friend Susie's Team in Training fund was a blast...just a bunch of girls, lots of chatting, shopping, scrapping, massages, prizes...what more could a girl want?  One of her "vendors" was a jeweler who was buying gold...I gathered up lots of old jewlery that I didn't want anymore and ended up with $380 cash for it...I was really thrilled!  I paid Ginger towards Inspiration Unlimited 09, Juls towards my plane ticket to IU09, had a massage by the fantastic Emily and still came home with enough money to buy a new pair of sneakers and my contact lenses...I am totally stoked.  I got 4 pages done that I LOVE, plus a card...so it wasn't my prolific day ever, but I really do love the pages I did.  The two I did for DT at Croppin Paradise were my favorite, and of course I can't share them yet, but I'll give you a little sneak...

And two more...

I apologize about the color on these...I just couldn't get them right and it's too hot to go outside to photograph out there..so this is the best I could do.  Anyway, it was a fun, fun day, topped off by a 40th birthday party for my friend Melissa last night.  Oh!  And I won an iPod Shuffle at the crop apparently, so that is pretty cool, too...I always say I never win anything so I guess I can't claim that anymore!  I wish I had been there to win it..that would have been fun but it's a wonderful surprise, anyway...and I felt like all the raffle tickets that I have ever bought in the past finally made it worth it.  I hope Susie raised a bunch of money for TNT...can't wait to hear what her grand total is...and Susie, if you're reading this, THANK YOU...for a really fun day!!

Been a little scrappy...

I finally finished my scraproom reorganization and I was inspired to create!  LOL Course now I have a mess to clean up but there's nothing like shuffling around my stuff to help me find old stuff I've been wanting to use!  That stuff is put aside for this weekend's Charity Crop for Luekemia and Lymphoma Society through my friend Susie's Team in Training group (email me if you'd like information on how to attend on Saturday).  While I can't stay all day I'm so looking forward to scrapping with my girls Kari, Juls, Melissa, Wendy and Susie!

So, because I've been sort of a scrapping slacker lately (at least in posting them) here are some sneaks for my Little Red Scrapbook DT work...

 

 

And I was busy with my other DT work at Croppin Paradise, too...the store is just chock full of scrappy goodness...and we are going to be having a Survivor Crop in a week or so..you won't want to miss that!  Here's a card and a layout I just did for them...

 

 

That picture is of my brother and me circa 1969...we were pretty cute back then!  I'll be back with more layouts as soon as the Little Red Gallery goes live in the next day or so. :-)  Tomorrow is the Big Brother 11 Premier- so looking forward to it!!  It's gonna be a good one!

Old Fashioned Fun at Farrells!

Jillie and her BFF Maddy, Maddy's mom Andrea and her sister and I went for a bit of a drive today to check out Farrells.  Yes, Farrells..*the* Farrells we went to umpteen times as kids for the zoo sundae, fire alarms, banging drums, waiters running through the restaurant only to sing very loudly and embarrass you if you ate a Pigs Trough all by yourself!  We had a blast...the girls were totally into the free sundae for your birthday- at first...

 

Happily wearing their birthday stickers (along with the tiaras they were already wearing!) until they heard the first birthday "celebration"...then, this was the look...

 as she was so worried about them scaring her...we agreed she would just go with it and have fun..and of course, she did...

 

and totally enjoyed her sundae (and most of mine)..

Totally worth the 45 minute drive just for nostalgia's sake (and yes, I realize that Jillian's birthday isn't until next week, lol...).  This Farrells is one of two or three that are left in the US...a true national treasure, tee hee...glad I was able to share this fun birthday tradition with my daughter.

Girlfriend Getaway!

I spent the weekend in Orange County with Kirs...what a great weekend...we shopped and ate, and watched chick flicks and just enjoyed reconnecting...it had been WAY too long since we had spent any time alone together...since our Hawaii trip in 07!

We arrived in OC about 5pm.  We both hit traffic, for me, it took 2 1/2 hours to drive the 45 miles or so...I checked into the hotel for us and just relaxed and read a magazine until she arrived...then we cracked open a bottle of wine for some happy hour chillaxin' and decided to hit the mall for some quick shopping and dinner.

 

We settled on a little Italian restaurant for some shared pasta and pizza (and more wine) and then but we weren't ready to head back yet so we stopped at TGIFridays for $4.00 Grey Goose Cosmos (what a deal!)

then we headed back to the hotel to settle in for an in room movie and watched and cried our way through "Marley and Me".  :-) 

Saturday: We ordered room service for breakfast and headed down to the Irvine Spectrum to shop the day away...and shop we did!

 

I found lots of bargains and was very restrained for me (my lack of funds did help!) and still managed to buy three cardigans, some really cute jewlery, a gel skin for my iPhone and new shoes for under $100...

 

I forgot how tiring shopping can be..it's been so long since I've shopped!  Our feet were tired!!!

 

(yes, that's some of our loot spread out on the bed in the background!)..we freshened up and had a little happy hour, then headed to Roy's for dinner...LOVE that restaurant...

 

We told them we were celebrating our Anniversary...and it is, this year, the 30th anniversary of knowing each other...I can't believe I've spent more of my life knowing her than not...it's trippy to think about things in terms like that.  We stayed up late just talking about life....

Sunday: We slept in till 10am (!) and leisurely packed up and headed down to breakfast...we checked out of the hotel at noon and headed to the theaters at the mall across the street to go see My Sister's Keeper...ooohh..what a tear jerker!  We hit the road about 4pm and it took me another 2 1/2 hours to get home...sheesh..stupid LA traffic.  What a great weekend...totally what I needed to recharge my soul...I love this girl..

 

Thanks Kirs...for being the bestest Bud a girl could ever have...I {puffy heart} you!!

From Ali's Blog...

My first day of summer...with all three kids gone for the day (well, considering I have to leave in 10 minutes to go fetch them, the day went fast....)

For Today...

Outside my window... sunshiny, birds chirping, not a cloud in the sky.

I am thinking... how nice my day was with the kids gone and nothing really pressing for once.

From the learning rooms... planning a little getaway to a city I've never been to...

I am thankful for... good health for all

From the kitchen... fresh fruit smoothies for snack

I am wearing... jeans, white tank, black short sleeved cardigan and black converse.

I am reading... the new Scrapbook trends Magazine

I am hoping... that the kids had a good day and Jillie gets the part she wants in the musical.

I am creating... some new scrap pages

I am praying... for a few young adults to make good choices this summer.

Around the house... quiet.  total quiet.

One of my favorite things... lemonade...feels good on my scratchy throat.

A few plans for the rest of the week... scrapping to meet some deadlines, planning for a little getaway...then getting away!

I have a High Schooler now...

which just BLOWS my mind. It feels so omnious, like everything she does from here on out will affect the rest of her life (which may be a little dramatic, but still)...and I only have 4 more years with her before she moves onto college.

It was a long day...we had to be at the school at 6:50am for her to check in and for us to get in line for her graduation.  There were 608 students getting diplomas today (another 100 or so 8th graders did not walk for whatever reasons) so there were THOUSANDS of people there at 7am.  It wasn't too hot when we initially sat down for the outside ceremony and we thought we'd get off easy with a little cooler weather-then they began  at 8am.  By 8:45 the sun was starting to bake...to call 608 students across the stage is quite an undertaking, they moved quickly and all but we were feeling pretty wilted by the time they were done at 9:45.  Then there was the task of FINDING our child...lol...typical Maddie didn't think to arrange a meeting spot for us so we had to hunt her down.  Eric was not happy and I was hot and stressed...but we found her...hot, really not feeling well at all and about to cry...she has been fighting being sick all week and, of course, it caught up with her today.  So, even though *I* wanted to get pics with her friends, we went home to cool off, get some tylenol and cool water and clean up before meeting the family for brunch.  Here is one of the few shots I got of her before she refused more pictures...(I have not had a chance to edit them)

 

She got a special pin for being in the band for 9 semesters and we were told by her Social Studies teacher that she should have gotten an award in her class but for some reason the Social Studies dept didn't give awards this year.  She also was on CJSF this year as well as being in all her SAS (school for advanced studies) classes...so we are very proud of her!

She held it together for lunch and came home and slept on and off the rest of the day instead of hanging with her friends...(I felt so bad for her!).  She still has a fever and went to bed early. :-(  One last picture..

 

My parents brought her the "lei" and she's showing off the bracelet that I put together for her for her present.  She had a charm bracelet started when she was much younger, but it was too small for her so I went and bought a new one and took all the charms off the old one and bought a bunch of new charms to signify some of the important things in her life the last three years...there was a fairy, a softball, a drama mask, a music note and a four leaf clover for good luck in high school.  I will be adding to this with some I had picked out from Rembrandt Charms (but they didn't arrive in time)...She loved it...

So, yes, a high schooler now...so proud of her. She is a good girl, very sweet and loving and I hope she always stays that way!

Just three more days!

I am so ready for school to be done.  We are all just DONE.  The teachers aren't even trying, lol.  I am finishing up a clipboard for one of Maddie's teachers and a little box for Camryn's teacher tonight...the big kids are out at 12:35 tomorrow and Thursday, which is like, why bother?? Oh well, hope they like their gifts. 

Last week, Maddie bridged from Cadette Girl Scouts to Senior Scouts...she is going to finish up her Silver Award this summer.

Camryn bridged from Daisy Scouts to Brownie Scouts... 

 

So all three girls are still in scouts and loving it.  I hope that it will help Maddie get into college in 4 years...oy..I can't believe she is headed to High School.  When did I get old enough to have a high schooler?

And lastly, I'll leave you with my first June DT layout for Croppin Paradise...I got to work with the very cool Anna Griffin Peyton line...which was perfect for the pictures from Camryn's Club Libby Lu party from LAST year. :-)

 

I'll be back over the weekend with Culmination Pictures!

Little Red's Pink Paislee Kit Giveaway!

Go, go now to the Pink Paislee Blog to see this month's Little Red Scrapbook kit (and one of my DT layouts- the first one!)...be sure to leave a comment for your chance to WIN A FREE KIT!!!

http://pinkpaislee.com/2009/06/little-red-looks-good-in-pink-win-a-kit/#comments

 

I just wanted to add that the photo of my girls was taken by my VERY talented friend Araxi.  I totally {heart} that photo!!! 

ETA: I just posted this on TwoPeas today and it went to top 10 in votes!  Thanks Peas!!!!

Where the waving wheat...

Oklahoma was great!  Maddie had her biggest role yet...and Jillian, more lines and a little bit of a duet...a very good show...here's a couple pics of my Sarah Heartburns...

 

 

 

That's all I'll bore you with today...I have lots of photo editing to do with the recital, the weddings, the show...Daisy scouts..ohh..heck.  I have lots of scrapping to do!  I'm hoping to get down to Carlsbad for a scrapping weekend the end of the month...would love to have Kirs come up here as I have massage certificates to use (and I hate going by myself!)...but I need to get away from the kids (or have the kids gone somehow!) so we'll see...okay, off to organize the kids for school in the am...we have the professional dance pics tomorrow, gotta make sure the tights are clean! 

Goin' to the Chapel...

Michelly is getting married!!!  Our sweet Michelle is finally marrying Joe, the man of her dreams..the love of her life...I remember when they met in high school and how deeply she felt about him then...and here they are, years later..becoming man and wife.  I am so very, very happy for them!  Michelle has been like a daughter to me and Eric...we love her so much...she has blessed our family with her loving care for our children for the last 7 1/2 years, and I can't imagine how different our lives would be without her in it.  As our children have gotten older, our needs for Michelle have changed..we've gone from 3 times a week babysitting, to having "Michelle Day" once a week to the occasional babysitting...she's done their hair, wiped their tears and loved them lots...Joe is one lucky guy.  Michelle is going to be an amazing wife and mother...So Congratulations Michelle and Joe!!!  We wish you a lifetime of love, happiness and laughter!!