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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Is this thing on? I mean really?

I have just not been into blogging lately, I mean like for a really long time.  But it's almost a new year, so why not make a bit more of an effort?  Yesterday I gave the blog a remodel and refresh so we are ready to go. It will be a short one tonight, kiddos need to get to bed.

We are having a nice Christmas recovery week off.  I have been off since Friday and it has been great. I was worried at first, when Nicholas came down with pink eye last Thursday and we thought that Jackson was getting it too, but since N won't do eyedrops, the doctor gave them antibiotics and it cleared up before Christmas and J never completely got it.

Mike is sick as is our usual after Christmas tradition.  The upside is we have stayed close to home and relaxed a lot.

Since you can't blog without a picture here is my first collage I created at Picasa today (how did I not know about this).  This would have taken me 30 minutes in Photoshop and it was whipped out in 5 minutes on Picassa after a bit of fixing on the cropping.


Meet Happy the Elf he arrived on Thanksgiving night and kept an eye on N & J for Santa through Christmas. The boys were sad to see Happy go back with Santa on Christmas Eve, but I am making them a little mini book to capture all his adventures while he was here.

Be back soon!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

This Man Changed Our World

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Steven Jobs

Apple CEO

Brilliant Innovator

1955 - 2011

I am not quite sure I can put my finger on why the passing of this man, that I did not know personally, has moved me so much. I am sure it has a lot to do with him dying of cancer at too young of an age. And it is almost this time last year that the beginning of the end of our time with my mom began. I know my heart aches for his family and friends. That is definitely part of it.

Maybe it was because I saw the news on my iPhone. A device I cannot live without because he knew we wanted it. Maybe it is because when I got home tonight, I saw Nicholas, at almost 5 years old, glued to my iPad playing one of a hundred games he has downloaded from the App Store. Maybe it is because I cannot survive my drive to and from work without the podcasts I listen to on my iPod Touch that come to me straight from iTunes several times each week.

Our world today would not be the same without this man. And I believe we are all very lucky for it.

Rest in peace Steve Jobs.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Week in the Life - Sunday

Sunday, July 31


In Photos:





In Words:

Day:  Sunday, July 31, 2011
Wake:  6:20 a.m.
Sleep:  10:50 p.m.
Weather:  108 degrees
Work:  No thanks, hanging out today
Plan:  Dinner at Garcia’s with the Carr grandparents
Eating:  Pancakes & bacon for breakfast
Drinking:  Lots of water
Exercising:  Oops,I forgot
Listening:  Silence, 4 kids in the house are now asleep
Watching:  I wasn’t watching, but there was baseball
Feeling:  Refreshed after a good night’s sleep
Thinking:  About interior design
Doing:  Measuring rooms; and, swimming before the storm
Wanting:  To redecorate most of my house
Needing:  Money to actually do it, ha!
Loving:  Watching the Carr cousins bond

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Week in the Life - Saturday

Saturday, July 30


In Photos:







In Words:


Day:  Saturday, July 30, 2011
Wake:  5:21 a.m. (thanks Marti)
Sleep:  10:35 p.m.
Weather:  106 degrees with a mid-day storm
Work:  House chores most of the day until 3:00 p.m.
Plan:  Jon & girls coming for the week
Eating:  Subway subs for lunch          
Drinking:  Pomegranate lemonade
Exercising:  Day off
Listening:  Mario Kart on the Wii in the background
Watching:  Tori & Dean on the DVR while scrapping
Feeling:  So hot today and sticky today
Thinking:  Nichols is obsessed with the Wii
Doing:  Organizing my scrap room & the coupon binder; hanging a shelf in the laundry room & new posters in the boys room
Wanting:  To create a “Cool in the Pool” mini album
Needing:  A shower every time I come back inside from the heat
Loving:  Nicholas so excited for his cousins to get here

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Week in the Life - Friday

Friday, July 29


In Photos:




In Words:

Day:  Friday, July 29, 2011
Wake:  5:28 a.m.
Sleep:  1:05 a.m.
Weather:  108 degrees (or 103, but it is hot!)
Work:  Arrive – 9:05 a.m. Depart 6:05 p.m.
Plan:  To not work late tonight
Eating:  Oregano’s Grandma G’s Rosemary Chicken Potato Pizza– yum!
Drinking:  Ice Sparkling Water
Exercising:  Yoga & Stretching
Listening:  LOAD & Paperclipping Podcasts
Watching:  Did you Hear About the Morgans?; Hawaii 5-0 & Tori & Dean on the DVR
Feeling:  Free from some clutter
Thinking:  About new work assignment – a fun challenge
Doing:  Cleaning & organizing my scrap room
Wanting:  To re-decorate the guest bathroom
Needing:  A good night’s sleep
Loving:  Extra time spent with Nicholas & Jackson this morning


Friday, July 29, 2011

Week in the Life - Thursday

Thursday, July 28

In Photos:




In Words:

Day:  Thursday, July 28, 2011
Wake:  5:35 a.m.
Sleep:  11:25 p.m.
Weather:  108 degrees
Work:  Arrive – 8:53 Depart – 7:08
Plan:   Run errand at lunch
Eating:  In N Out Burger for lunch
Drinking:  Starbucks Italian Roast Coffee
Exercising:  Yoga & Stretching
Listening:  Layout a Day & Motherload Podcasts
Watching:  More Hawaii 5-0 & Tori & Dean on the DVR
Feeling:  Exhausted but happy
Thinking:  That work will never slow down to a livable pace…I guess that’s good
Doing:  Organizing and purging photos
Wanting:  A few more hours each day
Needing:  To clean out the coupon binder
Loving:  Nicholas’s excitement at learning how to play the Wii

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Week in the Life - Wednesday

Wednesday, July 27

In Photos:




In Words:


Day:  Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Wake:  5:10 a.m.
Sleep:  10:40 p.m.
Weather:   104 degrees         
Work:  Arrive – 7:47 a.m. – Depart – 4:35 p.m.
Plan:  Physical therapy – trying to heel my foot
Eating:  Spaghetti       
Drinking:   Blackstone Merlot
Exercising:   Yoga & stretching
Listening:  Digi Show Podcast & weekend church service
Watching:  More Hawaii 5-0 on the DVR
Feeling:  Frustrated
Thinking:  That I need to clear my head
Doing:  Physical therapy to heal my foot and ankle
Wanting:  Wood flooring in the family room
Needing:   A more peaceful day tomorrow
Loving:  Catching up on classes at Big Picture

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Week in the Life - Monday & Tuesday

I wasn't going to join the Week in the Life project this week. I decided Monday morning to go for it and just approach it differently than last year. It ends up being the same week I documented last year when I took tons of pictures every day and wrote tons of details.

This year, I am taking a cue from Kelly Purkey's class at Big Picture Classes and doing a quick summary of my day, mostly from my perspective with just a few photos.

Monday July 25






Day: Monday, July 25, 2011
Wake: 5:35 a.m.
Sleep: 10:50 p.m.
Weather: 101 degrees
Work: home sick today
Plan: first day of pre-k for Nicholas
Eating: tilapia tacos
Drinking: Landshark beer
Exercising: yoga & stretching – calves very sore
Listening:  quiet house after boys are asleep
Watching:  Tori & Dean re-runs on Oxygen
Feeling:  achy, hot and tired today
Thinking: about losing weight
Doing: setting up school archive boxes from pre-school to 12th grade for both boys
Wanting:  to purge the excess in the house
Needing:  to get some extra sleep
Loving: the box of memories Dion brought this weekend 

Tuesday July 26







Day: Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Wake: 5:35 a.m. - after being licked by Marti
Sleep: 10:30 p.m. - in the family room chair
Weather: 106 degrees
Work: arrived - 9:45 departed – 7:15 home – 7:45
Plan: first day at new preschool for Jackson
Eating: awful Healthy Choice frozen meal for lunch
Drinking: iced tea
Exercising: yoga and stretching
Listening: Mike’s radio station when going to sleep
Watching: Hawaii 5-0 on the dvr
Feeling: so much better than yesterday – back to normal
Thinking: behind. I am too busy at work right today – too many meetings not enough work time.
Doing: volunteer training at Nicholas’s school
Wanting: to get home earlier at night
Needing: preservation spray from Michael’s
Loving: how excited Jackson was after getting his new outfit on for school & taking his 1st day photo shoot

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

July 4th Weekend Roundup

We stayed inside for most of the long weekend.  With temperatures like this….
July4th Weekend-2a
It was not pleasant outside.  And we had some humidity thrown in for fun too. Smile
Jackson started eating with a fork this weekend, and picked it up like he had been doing it forever.
July4th Weekend-1
I definitely have kiddos that do things when they are good and ready and not when I want them to.

Since we stayed inside Jackson spent a lot of time dragging every toy he cold find in his room to every other part of the hosue.
July4th Weekend-2
Mike beat Bowser in Super Mario Galaxy with Nicholas cheering him along the way.
July4th Weekend-3
Nicholas hi-jacked my iPad and iPhone and played Angry Birds and ended up figuring out how to look for more games. After we paid for 2 or 3 games I told him he could not have any more that cost money. He figured out which ones were free and would bring me the iPad or phone and say “ Can I play this one? this one “don’t” cost money”. Kids.
July4th Weekend-3a
After a hard afternoon of playing, Jackson crawled in Mike’s lap and fell asleep. He doesn’t look very comfortable to me.
July4th Weekend-4
On Sunday we did leave the house to go to the church in the morning.  We also went out to a late lunch at the new Coach and Willie’s in downtown Chandler. The food was good, but expensive. It seemed like we were the only one’s brave enough to leave the air conditioning. The restaurant and the streets were pretty empty.

When Nicholas wasn’t playing the iPad, he took over the Wii.  It is funny that something that he didn’t pay a lot of attention to a couple of months ago is now a complete obsession.
July4th Weekend-4a
Last night we got a really bad dust storm that knocked the power out. The Wii wouldn't power back on and we thought it was a gonner. Mike was not looking forward to Nicholas's reaction, but thanks to Google we figured out how to reset the power supply.


I don’t even know what this shirt style is all about. LOL!
July4th Weekend-5
On the 4th, we stayed inside and Mike grilled slider burgers for dinner.  We headed over to our church for fireworks.
July4th Weekend-6
We met up with friends, Michelle and Barry, that we hadn’t seen in forever.  Nicholas and their little girl hit it off immediately.
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And we ended the night with a bang!
July4th Weekend-8July4th Weekend-9
July4th Weekend-10
July4th Weekend-7
Have a great week!

Monday, July 4, 2011

Happy 4th!

Happy Independence Day!  May your day be filled with....

eating sweet treats 

celebrating freedom


spending time with family and friends


and ending the night with a bang!



This evening we are going to watch Fireworks in the Sky at our church while roasting in the evening heat.  Enjoy your day.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

ScrapTiffany Sketch

The ScrapTiffany design team was given a sketch for today's challenge.


So with that, my design team term has come to an end. Tiffany has decided to stop the challenges and design team on her blog. I will miss working with Tiffany and all the great ladies on the design team. Head on over one more time today for one more round of scrappy goodness at ScrapTiffany.