An apology...

I vented here yesterday about my children and now they are upset with me. As a parent sometimes nothing you do and every thing you do turns to poop. My intent was not to make either of my girls seem like bad people. Steve and I were very blessed. Our children didn't give us the grief some did to their parents. But I can't say they were perfect because they weren't. They tried our patience at times but they have both worked hard and succeeded in becoming generous and gracious individuals. We are proud of them and all that they have accomplished. I am sorry that I hurt their feelings for that was not my intent. They do frustrate me at times but I love them deeply...

This Christmas...

I will have a new title, Grandma. I found out this weekend that our Sarah is going to have a baby. No doubt a surprise to us and I am guessing a real surprise to her and Nate. Sarah says he is over the moon about it. She still seems stunned by the news. She was very scared to tell Lisa and didn't chose the best way to tell her. Lisa now has hurt feelings and is in denial and does not believe Sarah. Why the weirdness? Lisa being nine years older could be very demanding, controlling and quite stubborn but also very protective of her sister. Well, Sarah too can be stubborn. It made life so interesting around here when they were growing up. I had hoped that this would bring them closer together but it doesn't appear that way at this moment. I am praying that this will change and soon because I don't think my heart could take it if it doesn't.

I can't believe it is Sunday...

I spent most of Friday redesigning my page layout for my "Mom Is" class that will be on the 30th of next month. I had one thing in mind at the beginning of the week but by the time I was done with my cards for my card class I no longer liked the idea. So I started over from scratch. I don't think it is my best but my brain has been on over load and it will have to do. I am planning on maybe doing something additional to it but that will be a surprise for my students that I think they will like. Lisa and Natalie came over and spent the afternoon with me. We, or rather they, worked on addressing envelopes for Lisa's save the date magnets. A big mix up over the bag with the flowers, spray mist and glue dots happened. It got sorted out and now I owe Lisa a coffee. It is a long story and one I will tell at another time. We invited the them to go to dinner and called Sarah to join us but they already had plans. So it was just Lisa, Buck and Natalie. We had loads of fun talking about when the kids were little and about how Steve thought they never fought. Wow, a Dad that works all the time knows very little that goes on in his home...
ETA: This the layout I did for my class, my mom was nineteen when this picture was taken.

Busy day..

I spent the day working on my cards for my class next month. I always design five cards then put the kits together about a week before the class. This way I know how many kits to make. I have the inventory already pulled when I design them so I won't run out before the class. I, also worked on the one page layout for the "Mom Is" class but I wasn't happy with it and decided to start over at about 4 o'clock this afternoon. So that is now in the redesign stages. Here is a peek at one of the cards I made.

It is hard to say no to this cutie...

She captivated my heart from the day she was born. I hadn't planned on getting married again let alone having any more children but it did happen. So it is hard to say no to this beautiful girl. Our VIP night is today at our local scrapbook store and I know I will have to leave my wallet in the car or she will break me. No, kidding aside, she could be worse but she does manage to say "Mom" in her special way that makes me cave. I love spending time with her when I can, and yes spoiling her too when I can. My sister-in-law Chris took this photo in the summer of 1988. We were at the North Fork camping and we were sitting watching Lisa play in the water when she saw Sarah eating gravel and took this shot. Really, how can anyone say no to this cutie???

Wow...

I would love to take Karen Russell's online photography course but at $250 it is a bit steep. I know that they offer classes on digital photography at Chemeketa but their class times are a little out of sync for my life right now. They are cheaper and I may have to re-visit this idea. I really want to take advantage of all the features of my camera and this is the way I see myself as getting this done. Yes, I have a manual but I am such a visual person that I need the class in addition to everything else. In the interim I purchased a couple of books to help me get a head start. I just need to put down the Patricia Cornwell books.

Easter baskets...

20 and 29 years old and my girls still want Easter baskets! Of course, nothing fancy but chocolate is the request. And their sweeties aren't left out, they got baskets too. Dinner at Mike and Chris' was fun as usual. Lots of good food and company...

Happy Easter and Happy Birthday...

We have Oregon sunshine today and it looks to stay with us all day. :( I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter. Steve and I are will be celebrating with family and friends. The annual Easter dinner is at Mike and Chris'. Aunt Mary will be picking up Grandma Lucille to spend the day with us. This should be a fun day. I pray there will be no drama like last year.

On a side note: Steve and I went to the Noodle yesterday afternoon and rescued my car. Steve took a look and found that the cable broke for my emergency brake. He released the pedal and then I drove my car home. So I will be calling the mechanic and asking how much to get it fixed. Car karma...

Last but certainly not least: Happy Birthday to my dear sister-in-law Aurora!!

Car Karma...

It must be because all the traffic was being re-routed for Obamas visit to Salem. I met Camille and Angie for lunch at the Noodle. I pulled into the parking lot and went to set my parking brake and wham! It is now broken. The release handle doesn't do anything and the car is now sitting in the parking lot of the restaurant till we rescue her. I sent Sarah a message saying I needed to borrow her car since my was broken. Why, was her response, I have a spare car she doesn't! Gee I thought it was only fair since she has borrowed mine enough times. :) Lisa thinks Steve should just go out and buy me a new one. I like her idea!!

Long day...

I only had two students in my class today but that is alright. I have nine more kits available for sale in the store. Mary, was one of my students, and as always lots of fun to have in class. I had a new student her name is Fran and she is from West Linn. Yes she drove down for the class, I am impressed. She said she would take more day classes if they were on Monday, Wednesday or Friday as she nannies her grandson's on the other days of the week. I have already had requests to move my classes to Fridays if possible. I will have to ask Shelly if that would work for them at the store. My cold is not better and appears to be on its way to worse, gee I hope not...

Easter Explosion Box class

It is tomorrow and I just finished putting the class instructions in the kits. I have been feeling so crappy the last few days that I am behind on just about everything. I can say though I have no dirty dishes in the sink or dishwasher, laundry has been done and my bed is made. Though the last thing was tough as I kept crawling into it and sleeping. My head is feeling about the same unfortunately but I hope it will be better by class time tomorrow. Here is a picture of the inside of the box we will be making in class.

A bad headache...

Aches, chills and stuffy nose it making me feel really cranky. So family be warned. :) Wouldn't you know it I would start to feel this way the week of Easter. The rum may not make it into the "rum cake" this weekend...

I now have it...

What it is I am not sure though. Stuffy head, cough, feeling lethargic and just plain poopy ( a Sarah quote). I am not running a fever though it feels like it and chills to go with that, is just so much fun. Of course, being the female in the household means you still have to do the cooking, the cleaning and the laundry or it won't get done. Well, the cleaning isn't getting at least not today but the laundry is almost done and dinner, well Steve may have to go and get it. Because I am dragging now...
ETA: I decided I couldn't wait for Steve to get home and then get dinner. He has varied times for getting home so going and getting dinner myself seemed like a wiser plan.

Sarah is smart, beautiful, etc..

I just had a chat with her about my blog. She, too had noticed the message weirdos. So she went into my site and checked on a few things. She noticed I hadn't done a couple of things to my blog, one of which was that I didn't ask for a verification on my blog. So she walked through it asking me what I wanted and made suggestions then fixed it for me. The verification stops the spamming, which is a good thing. Then she went to my blog and deleted the unwanted messages for good. So I hope this takes care of my blog issues. It is so wonderful to have such a smart child!! I believe I owe her a coffee...

WARNING!!!

As of late I have been getting posts on my blog that lead to porn sites!!! Do not click on these links because many of these have cookies and will infect your computer. I am looking at restricting my web blog to deter this. I will let you know soon what I decide. To my family and friends you have my phone number let me know if you would like to be added to a list of restricted people having access to my blog. Sorry, there are such sick losers out there that think this is funny. :(

Angel challenge...

This month's Kat's challenge is to do a two page layout on an/the angel in your life. She didn't say if the angel had to be with us (living) or not. But I am guessing it is what you interpret your angel to be. I have chosen my late maternal Grandmother Emilia. As a young girl I spent many a summer vacation with her at her home in Bakersfield, CA. Some summers we drove to Las Cruces, New Mexico to visit her brother Eliseo and his wife Mary. I will never forget the summer rain and thunderstorms there. It could be bright and sunny one minute then dark and stormy literally in the next. Sometimes it was both. One summer we went to the Grand Canyon and another we drove to Hermosillo, Mexico to get copies of her birth certificate. The state at the time she was born didn't keep birth records, the local churches did that. The church where my grandmother's birth record was recorded had a fire and a good many were lost, including hers. I believe this was the trip where I had my first adult beverage at eighteen, a Tom Collins, that my Aunt Carmen bought for me. This picture is not great, as it is a scanned copy of a badly handled picture. I believe she was in her early thirties.

A mere ten days...

And we will be seeing little children doing an egg hunt at my sister-in-law Chris'. The cute little one in this picture is her niece Eve from last year. It was her first Easter egg hunt at Aunt Rissy's. It also means I have just nine days before I make my infamous "rum" cake for Easter dinner. I keep saying year after year I want to bring something different but I get moans and faces. It has become tradition so I spend three hours making and then drizzling the "secret" rum sauce over the cake. It is so good! Every year I catch someone scratching the leftovers off the platter.

I hate this time of the year...

Family wants me to do their taxes and then they get snippy when I ask questions. It is not my fault when they don't take their "Mother's" (ie, tax preparer) advice on their taxes. I have repeatedly said save everything that you believe will be needed for your taxes. And when in doubt save anyway! I can always decipher or not use anything they give me but when I get nothing I can't do much else. My biggest peeve right now is our beloved Oregon kicker refund. We have already paid taxes on this darn money and now we have to claim it on our federal and pay taxes on it again! Gripes my butt...

Tax time...

Sarah and Nate gave me their W-2's a few weeks back and I just did the preliminaries, I still need a few things from them before I can finish their taxes. Lisa's is a little more complex since she is paying on school loans and changed jobs last year. So I have just started hers. Ours on the other hand is a work in progress. I have my tax report done from Quicken and gathered my tax papers now I have to go through them and figure out our medical deductions, stock sale stuff and Steve's unemployment insurance. Then there is property taxes, mortgage interest, my outside income and our schedule K for the farm. Thank goodness for Turbo Tax.

The ring...

Buck gave Lisa her ring last night. It was sized to fit and she is so happy. He took is sister Kyree with him to help him decide which one to get. They both have very good taste as this is a winner. I am pretty happy with this shot, as I am holding her hand and taking the picture at the same time. An accomplishment with my Rebel Xti as I tend to get a bit of shake with shots like this.

Friday

Was a busy day for me. I ran to the grocery store, stopped at the bank, had a nail appointment and lunch with Sarah all by noon! Then I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening scrapping with my friend Camille. I managed to finish a couple of layout kits I had, a make and take I found languishing in one of my tote bags and did a couple of more layouts on the trip to David's bridal. Wow, and I haven't even made a dent in those photos yet. Lisa sent me a text last night saying that Buck had given her a ring! She is coming over today to use my computer and to show it off. I will get pictures and post them as quickly as I can. I am truly excited for her!! I had to cancel my card class that was scheduled for Thursday as most of my students were sick. :( These are the cards from this month's class.

Good news...

I have already told my family and my closest friends. I am so relieved to say that a recent biopsy came back with good news. I have had a tough week trying to keep my wits about me while waiting for the news. I can understand why women get scared. The fear of the unknown is so real. Dancing as if on a cloud is an appropriate description of how I feel. So many emotions going on right now with Lisa's wedding coming up, this was one thing our family did not need to deal with. Prayers do work.

Card class

It looks like I will have to cancel my class tomorrow. As of yesterday no one has signed up to take the class. What a shame. I may have to offer an incentive, like a six card for free if you take the class. Or some five dollar gift card, I will have to bounce this idea off Shelly.

Lamps...

I have decided I want to replace the lamps I have in my bedroom and something like this is what I am thinking of replacing them with. They had lamps like this all over the house that we stayed in last weekend. A pair in every bedroom (five) and seven in the great room on the third floor. The owner spared no expense when getting furnishings for this house. Most of the furniture was "mission" style and very well built. There where also some antiques scattered around the house; from a sideboard, a writing desk and numerous chests that held blankets and pillows. It was so relaxing there I want to go back...

Pelican Reach

Is the name of this house that is rented by Sea Haven Rentals in Lincoln City. It is one of their two biggest homes that they rent in Lincoln City the other is named Puffin Perch, they sleep 18 - 24 people. We rented Puffin Perch last year and didn't think that house could be topped but we were wrong, this place was unbelievable. Yes our family is up to 21 adults and children now. You would think with that many there would be some sort of turmoil going on but nope. I am proud to say that my husband's family are wonderful people. His brothers married amazing women and they have some pretty terrific children. I, know many can be doubtful of such bliss but it is true. We are truly grateful to my mother-in-law who rents theses homes for us for a three day weekend every winter for the family to get together. Despite the fact that there is a TV, and DVD player in all of the rooms we hardly ever use them. Board games, pool, foosball, air hockey and table tennis are the choices the family makes to have fun. Romantic walks on the beach are the choice of some of the family members if others don't intrude. Shrieks of laughter can be heard all weekend from the fun that is being had by all. I forgot that I had brought my camera and most of the family was gone when I unburied it from all my stuff. So the pictures I have are of just the third floor area...

Beach trip

We had a great time as usual. Not all of the family made it though. Katy and her husband Adam didn't make it because she had to catch a 5AM flight to Louisiana on Sunday and still had lots to do before she left for her trip. Raymond and Graham drove over for the day on Saturday while Annette stayed at home with the rest of the kids. Despite the fewer numbers in attendance we all had lots of good food and laughs to go around. I have attached a picture of the table that all twelve of us sat at on Saturday for supper. You really had to see this dining room set to believe how big it was. And in all rooms of the house were these tiffany looking lamps of all different shades, oh my goodness I wanted to take home a couple!!