My first Valentines Card

Not that this will go out in the exchange but I needed to practice... what do you think? Havent finished the inside, but just curious what folks think about the outiside?? It was fun to do.. BUT my latest prob outside of a baby who never sleeps without me and wants to be glued 24:7 (which I love but occasionally need a bit of a break :)) is that Alex and ellie are now of the age where they totally want to "help"..And of course I feel like a total heel for saying "no".. anyone have any suggestions.? I stamped a bunch of things that needed to be colored and told the kids we'd be making our own Valentines day cards (prob better than mine - LOL!) and to color those which they did in about 30 seconds.... Sooo... that's my new challenge... I LOVE that they want to help and are enjoying coloring, but sometimes, just sometimes, mom needs a tiny second just to herself - ya know?? :)

Confession: I've Strayed!! :)

Back into paper scrapping! I seem to do this every year after the new year - what's up with that? HAVE no clue!! Long ago I hung out on the CKMB (creating keepsakes board) and truly enjoy it... It's soooo fast paced with folks yapping all day long about products and techniques. Anyway, I seemed to find myself on there again of late and suddenly before my fingers new what they'd committed to, I signed up for a Valentines card swap and need to do 25 cards -YIKES!! When I committed I truly thought it was for just 1 swap (with one other person), but oh well.. guess I'lll be working out that paper scrap mojo more than I suspected...

A few things just had to share......As much as I LOVE digi, it felt SOOO good to pull out real paper and the xyron and glue and buttons and embellis and put things to paper! BUT.... as I've always said, by the time I'd gotten things out it was almost time to be done. It didnt help that Alex and Ellie decided they too wanted to "scrapbook" and were playing with my xyron (with the NOT repositional adhesive I had in it - what possessed me to buy that I have no clue!).. AND then the FUN, FUN part of the afternoon - I wanted to simply sprinkle a tag with glitter - like a 2 ssecond deal - NO go with kiddos.. they love glitter.. well you can pretty much guess the rest.. I now have glitter everywhere. I DEF have decided that virtual glitter is the way to go - LOL!!

And finally. as much as I love paper scrapping and probably will have a hard time giving up in spite of my long-time threats to sell my stash....you just cant play with your page like you can with "digi".. Can' t tell you how many times I wanted to hit "undo"!! Things are certainly way permanent, esp with that darned perm xyron stuff!!

Sooo here's my page... It's funny cause I feel like I've gone back years in time when I look at this vs. some of the digi stuff I've done... but I did do it all of an hour or so (hour design, plus 20 min to pull all the stuff out)...

So that's my story and sticking to it.... thought you might get a kick out of seeing a somewhat prehistoric paper scrap page!

Oh and this was an embelli challenge to layer 3 embellis which I have in a few diff spots ...

Every New Year, I SOOOO itch to Paper Scrap/Alter things.....

and so have been doing some web cruising. I havent done much of late in this arena altho from my stash you wouldnt know it :) Soo many cool things out there.... but check out these techniques and sites:

First Fabric albums.....

This from Donna Downey, whom I love (her blog: http://donnadowney.typepad.com/photos/fabric_albums/index.html)

Sooo cute... I now want to un-bury my sewing machine :) altho looks like much of this was hand done!





And for anyone who loves to stamp, check out this site: http://www.inkinitupwithkendra.blogspot.com/

filled with some great card-making ideas....

still feel like crap... I HATE the flu! DEF wont be winning "mommy of the year" award after today! :( Just sooo exhausted.....

Quickie Layout Post

Well spoke to soon about feeling better yesterday and was sick all last night (NOT a very Merry Christmas night :( ) ... Better this AM but starting to think I shouldnt have eaten the small dinner I did just now - UGH! I HATE the flu... Dh says much of his staff is out ill and a good friend also spent Christmas trying not to think of the wonderful food she was missing - grhhhh!!

So here it is.... better get my butt to bed before you know who wakes for the night!

OK more Pics & Layout!

Layout of our snowball adventures in Tahoe last weekend - DEF feeling like I'm in a creative rut.... messed with this forever and still not sure I like it.. but it's done, so I'm happy!

The doorway swing also has a trapeze bar and this is it... the kids are having a blast

The Castle

Butterscotch is a Furreal Pony - Ellie got last xmas.. this year she got this cute accessory set. It's incredibly made.. Made by someone who makes items for real horses and their owners..... attention to detail is awesome and she loves it!

And little sweetie! He did sooo good today, but def. got over-shadowed by the big kids!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Wanting to wish all my family and friends a VERY Merry Christmas... Things are low-key here so thought I'd post a few pics thusfar - hopefully some better ones later! I was feeling AWFUL yesterday and sooo bummed. Last Christmas both Alex and Ellie had the flu within days of one another altho both seemed to feel ok on Christmas day, and then about a week later, both George and I were sicker than dogs with the stomach flu... UGH.. I had visions of repeating that, but thankfully, all better today (crossing fingers and toes it continues). Anyway, just didnt get a ton of pics yesterday and it was so dark this AM.

While we never got to visit Santa this year, this was probably one of the most fun Christmas' where Santa was concerned. Alex especially was full of Q's... and it was just very magical. I sure hope this isnt the last year Santa is around, altho I love to think of Christmas and Santa being "magical" and it doesnt have to just be about gifts if that makes sense. Anyway, here I was last night trying to figure out what I was gonna do if I was up all night getting sick since Mr. Andrew wakes the moment I leave bed. Fortunately he fell asleep early and slept great til 2 AM (his usual) BUT Alex would not sleep.. He kept waking me up telling me he heard Santa, and jingle bells and that we needed to get up and see if Santa had been there... FINALLY at about midnight he fell asleep - so I got a good 2 hours of sleep :).... I wonder if there's a record for the most sleepless nights in a row??

Sooo some of our gifts didnt arrive - ticked me off to no end. From Highlights company and I ordered on 12/11.. so dh went to town to pick up a few things yesterday and I gave him a 20% coupon for Toys R Us I didnt think we were gonna use. Well he DID! Came back with a basketball hoop (when He mentioned -I thought he meant like a little nerf thing - NOT!).. Sooo I hadnt realized cause Alex never mentions Basketball that he and dad play at the neighbors quite frequently. I'm not sure why but the basketball set was 50% off plus our 20% so we got a great deal -it's one you add water to the base for weight... and can adjust height of hoop for kids... Sooo yay! Alex is thrilled. Santa also brought him the many knights he 'd asked for and a Castle, plus some spy equipment! Ellie got an indoor swing, some accessories for her Butterscotch Furreal pony and some art equipment. One of the things that didnt arrive for her is the Flying Turtle a very cool indoor riding toy where you put your feet on the handlebars so hopefully that will arrive in the next few days....Hoping this will help with some of her shoulder weakness issues.. Her OT uses it with her in the gym....

Andrew had a great time but as I'd kind of remembered with Alex and Ellie wasnt too into opening presents, more like chewing on the various packaging :) after the fact. He got a really cool activity center with storage in the middle; a car garage (which was a hit with all three kids); Band in a Box; some clothing and some bath toys....

Dh got a new TV from the kids and I... our 22 year old television finally bit the dust. We got one of those flat screens - not sure if it's just me, but these wide screens - the faces/images look a little stretched? The color is great and we actually get all the channels - with sound too (what a novelty as other one has been broken/on way out for about 8 months).

And I got a scanner I'd asked for.... It was a lovely holiday and hoping you all are having a very relaxing and wonderful day :)

Soooo here are the pics:

Andrew rides in the pack with dad in the afternoons, but it's been bitter cold (for us.... I know, I know I shouldnt complain!) soooo Andrew has been wearing this hat and wonders of wonders... actually will keep it on! I think he looks so cute!

The Castle.... I figured it would have a million and one pieces -but LORDY!....the different thing about this is that there werent any screws - all put together by slotting the sides into one another...

Sooooo... not sure if this is just part of being the baby of the family but the two big kids have to always "test" Andrew's toys for him :) He doesnt mind... think it makes it more interesting for him....

He's really pretty good :) !!

I got this swing at Leaps and Bounds and suspect I'm gonna be WAY sorry we didnt get a long time ago.... think this is gonna be great for sensory issues and just plain fun.. comes with a trapeze bar as well that can be interchanged and holds up to 175 lbs... It's very cool and Ellie loves!

More on Tahoe:

It was a very relaxing weekend, altho we actually didnt do much. Alex had a great time in the arcade with dad, and Ellie played on my computer (which I rarely let her do as she'd stay on it forever if I let her :) ) But she just can't take arcade noise - way too much stimulation. I enjoyed not having to deal with "house stuff" for an entire weekend.

I miss skiing. Havent been in forever. Long ago when I took a few years off in between my jr. and sr, years in college I worked as a Supervisor for a Company that took kids up to the snow to ski every weekend. In high school I'd gone as a member of the club. In exchange for watching a bus full of kids on the ride up and down the hill (4 hours) and at dinner in Sacramento, we got free lift tickets (now looking back, I think they got a pretty good deal with us :)) I always got the younger kids and also looking back, I now can't imagine many parents putting their 8 year old on a bus and allowing them to go up to the mountains (essentially unsupervised once there). But back in the olden days :) that's exactly what happened. There were always 2 supervisors on the bus with about 40 kids, ages around 8-18, with little kids buses and big kids' buses. It was so much fun! We usually skiied Squaw or Alpine.

Nowadays I dont know how folks afford skiing. By the time you get the equipment you have to stomach the lift tix prices - youch... I suspect it would be well over a hundred bucks for us to ski as a family now... When we win that lottery!! :)

This is Gunbarrel, CA side of Heavenly, with Embassy Suites just below and Gondolas that (I think) run from Embassy Suites up the mountain... Def. need to check out that hotel next time.

Outside of being in the car, Andrew did great (lousy pic tho)... I was worried - this being his first trip away that he might feel super insecure, but he did great in that dept...

The Knight set Alex picked up with his Arcade winnings (he also brought Ellie a stuffed otter)....and Andrew a football.

Sooo I need to write a "Hello, get a Flippin' clue" letter to Toyota!

OK I"m sooooo pissed off.. not only at Toyota but at myself. For my friends who are adoptive parents, you know how we try to minimize any kind of negative, traumatic experience for our little ones. And yes, we can't shield them forever.

We literally hardly went out the first 6 weeks Andrew was home. He HATES the car /carseat.. It's awful. It's that "I'm gonna die, hiccuping, almost infantile cry of helplessnes".. I HATE it too.. So we havent gone out a lot which has put us behind on a ton of things. When we do, he usually cries the majority of the way (we're an hour from town).

So we're back from our weekend in Tahoe, and I'm fairly livid. Mind you, my mom defensiveness has kicked into high gear.. I *knew * the sun in Andrew's eyes was part of the prob with his hatred of the carseat, but MAN oh MAN, until I sat back in the backseat with him for 6 hours up to Tahoe and 4+ down the hill, I didnt realize how bad it is.. I feel like crap that I didnt realize this before.

Window tinting is NOT super expensive.. about $250.. BUT getting the car in when you have 3 little ones and then trying to figure out what you're going to do for 5/6 hours while the windows are done, is NOT easy. I keep hoping dh can take in but he's often got meetings early and cant wait around for a ride to work. UGH.....

THIS is what makes me soooo flippin' mad! I wasnt thrilled about trading my jeep in for a mini-van.. I often feel like I'm driving a truck, BUT it's great room-wise inside. My issue is this:

WHAT FLIPPIN' MORON DECIDED TO GET RID OF WINDOW TINTING TO REDUCE COST OF BASE MODEL? My suspicion is that is was someone without kids. I now hope they have quadruplets and are required to drive around in this fish-bowl, torture device (where babies are concerned) and are forced to listen to the cries of a helpless baby with the sun in their eyes... Our ride home today was 4+ hours of which I changed seats about 10x, held blankets and jackets up to keep the sun from his eyes for several hours (I've never been so flippin excited to see fog when we hit Sacramento).. AND yet Andrew cried for approx 2/3 of the trip...Those silly sun shades they sell at baby stores would not have helped.. we need tinted windows...

I want to scream, "Hello" you make these things for families.. kids dont like the sun in their eyes... WHY or WHY would you take away the window tinting and yet include an MP3 Player? UGH....

OK off my soapbox.. I have this great blogger friend Michelle who writes these great "get a clue " letters.... I wish I had her talent as I really want to write a ltr to Toyota!

Newest Layout!

altho it's a pic you've seen before. I do this every year.. I get a pic I like of the kids for the holidays and make a card. I do put the card in the scrapbook but feel like that's not enough. Sooo decided to scrap the pic I used for the card with a kit I've had for a bit and love.. The kit is by Jofia Devoe at Digichick... of late it feels like I have absolutely no time to scrap and I miss it.. it's such a great creative outlet. Andrew obviously took a monster nap (expected he might and one reason I brought the laptop, altho def need to research the passport, portable EHD).... My PSE keeps crashing and I know it's cause all my kits are on my hard drive and it's just way overloaded. Digi scrapping is awesome.. BUT instead of physical space, you need virtual space/hard-drive space and then decide where things are gonna go. Of course the one layout I thought I might work on (I started a few weeks back) is back home on the EHD when I was attempting to move anything I could to save space last week.. ANYWAY, after multiple crashes did get this done today....

Here in Lake Tahoe!

It's beautiful and Andrew is taking a long nap and the kids and I are relaxing in the room. It was a long 6 hour ride up here due to an accident (which we were able to get around but still took quite awhile). Andrew did great in the car, altho I sat in the back and entertained so that helped.

BUT I'M an IDIOT! I knew this possibly was one "slight" cause of his dislike of the carseat but now know it's def a much bigger part. The flippin sun is in his eyes I suspect much of the time and it's driving him nuts. We have the Toyota Sienna and purchased the least expensive model AND I dont know what idiot was making cost cutting decisions in the big Toyota plant, but "hello"! They removed the tinting from the windows. I just havent had the time to get it in and get them tinted. BUT why? I ask.. I mean most folks who buy minivans do so cause they have a larger family - i.e. kids and most kids dont like the sun in their eyes. I didnt either - ugh.. I was attempting to digi scrap when Andrew slept and could barely see my screen it was so bright. Soooo gonna try to get it in this week if possible and or get a bunch of those shade things for the windows....

Anyway, it's gorgeous as usual here and we've got a great room on the 12 floor. We can see "Gun-barrel" the CA side Heavenly valley well-known black diamond run, as well as much of this side of the lake. I'd forgotten about the devastating fire here last summer and wow... it did some MAJOR damage! While I'm not sure I'd be happy living here full-time, this has got to be one of the most beautiful places.. I took some pics messing around with my camera - mind you.. our our less than clean windows and they came out ok.... I'l post below.... Just can't mess up pics of Lake Tahoe!

Andrew did great once here - I wasnt sure how he'd be in a strange environment.. BUT this AM was soooo cranky. I'm not sure if it's cause we're not home or if it's food.. I'm really starting to think we're gonna need to get him tested for food allergies. I gave him some of our eggs this AM and now wondering.. I need to start a food diary...

Hopefully more pics out and about but wont be suprised if we just "hang out"... and that's ok too.... It was pretty bitter cold when we were out earlier and the kids quickly decided snow-ball fights and snowmen would have to wait til they had better gear :) We're wimps - what can I say :) ?

Sunrise - third pic taken about an hour after first 2

Off for a much needed Long Weekend!

and really looking forward to it. We've been wanting to get away forever but Andrew's arrival/transition plus finances havent allowed. Well dh remembered that he can get a comp'd room up in Lake Tahoe so we're headed to the snow... I think it's been snowing anyway. Just til Sunday, and leaving tomorrow. The ride should be interesting as Andrew detests the carseat and this will be a good long 4 hour ride. I'll ride in back with him and hoping to get some digi-scrapping done on way up....

Here's a pic of where we're staying (I think) :)

And some pics from the Christmas Card Shoot! Wow.. getting 3 kids to all look at the camera at the same time is interesting! :)

Holiday Cards:

Well this silly card has been driving me crazy! Andrew slept horrible last night so took a long AM nap so I threw together a new one and edited the old one. Could you tell me which you like better? The better of the two photos (IMO), Ellie has her hands in her mouth - oops... But I still think I like the pic better...

Andrew and this Eczema thing .... a big ugh.. think that wasnt helping last night. It's around his eyes and it's really hard to get the lotion around his eyes without him rubbing and getting it into the eyes - anyone have any thoughts? I've been trying to put on when he sleeps but he's SUCH a llight sleeper so depending on how tired I am at night, it may/may not happen, I just dont think the Cetaphil is gonna be as quick a fix as I'd originally hoped...Any thoughts much appreciated!

Would love your Opinion!

Ive been messing with this for several weeks......and figure I'd better finalize or they wont get out... first version if you can imagine, had 3 individual pics....just too busy...Still dont like it all that well even tho I got a semi decent shot of all three children! I fell in love with the elements in the kit and suspect they'll be great on a page, but maybe not so great on a card.. Hmmm.... but I'm kind of out of time... So be honest...Is it too busy? I wanted it to be a bit whacky (vs. beautiful sentimental Christmas, not that I'm opposed to that, but I just loved this type of look).. So let me know.. I'd really appreciate it! :)

So, should I sign him up for Acting Classes :) ??

I hope my blogger friend Lori reads this as her son and Alex sometimes seem similar - just very full of life :) ! Alex and Ellie have been enjoying the Disney version of the 3 Muskateers of late (with Mickey, Goofy and Donald) and I swear Alex can hear something one or two times and then he's repeating it verbatim! Believe me I'm no stage mom and couldnt "act" my way out of a paper bag to save my life, but *if* this is something Alex enjoys and wants to do, I'd love for him to pursue. Thusfar he's not wanted to do much in the arena of extra-curricular activities. I sooo think this would be a great outlet for him but also dont want to force it upon him. We've got a really great local theatre group (very small) and they offer classes for kids. I think if we were to couch it in terms of just going and hanging with friends and having a good time with others who like to talk as much as he :) he might go for it! Of course being his mom, I love to get these things on video.. He sooo doesnt want to do stuff like this usually for the camera (or an audience!).....

still need to do some editing and pls excuse the very messy living room, but thought this was hilarious!


My Montage 12/7/07

Homeschooling Update:

I've been meaning to mention some stuff re: homeschooling of late but keep forgetting/running out of time. The kids are currently playing Polar Express/race car to Santa (and every moving vehicle we have is out :)) so thought I'd try quickly.

So we'd made the decision to send the kids back to school. The school Alex attended last year is out of district. Both kids were accepted last Fall as they were taking transfers but we opted for homeschooling. So we got all our paperwork in for a mid-year entrance (after the Holidays) and the Board spoke briefly about Alex and Ellie at their last meeting. Well not so much about them but allowing two out of district kids in.

Bottom line, they say they're full. I dont doubt they are. The K class has 23 kids in it and they can legally do that because their other classes arent quite to 20 and it all averages out supposedely. Last year they had two K teachers for a group that started at around 27. So nice small numbers which would be ideal for Ellie given her processing difficulties. There's a new Superintendent and think he's acting as principal as well. Sounds like he's really having to tow the line to make the numbers/finances work. I just pray that they'll take them next Fall - and he made it sound like they would. Our local school is adorable and would be so convenient, but its' all of about 60 kids so the classes are all mixed and not very much support staff. So it would be K-1-2 with 30 kids. I especially didnt want that for K, but Ellie will be lost in a huge class like that.

We met with our teacher advisor last Friday and I like her a lot. She always is brainstorming on ways to be creative and strategizes with me on ways to help the kids with their work. The one thing I LOVE about homeschooling is that we've already tried 3 math programs and we're now using one that will def work, BUT you dont have that option for a child who is struggling in the classroom. The child uses what everyone uses, end of discussion. We've been able to use and get very visually based things for Ellie and programs that dont force a lot of fine motor since that's another difficulty for her (altho she's making such huge strides in OT on this front). So bottom line, we're sticking with it hopefully til the end of the year unless I suddenly find myself having to go back to work (hopefully not).

I was curious for anyone reading this, if you have a child around 1st grade or you remember back, where was your child with reading? What types of books were they reading? Alex's former school is very thorough and I love their philosophy as it doesnt seem like they overly push the kids. And what I mean by that is that other schools in our area, I'm hearing from friends have timed reading tests to make sure the child is reading at a certain rate. The goal is that they'll be reading at least 100 words a minute by the end of first grade... WHAT?? I'm sorry I think that's insane. My son is a good, solid but average reader .... If he's pushed he'll just shut down and I think that's how it is for a lot of kids. And then Math - another subject! UGH. I hear from our teacher advisor that CA has some of the toughest math standards anywhere. Well by the end of the first grade curriculum in math, basic concepts in algebra are being introduced... WHAT!??? Granted, very basic and perhaps if done right it's ok... Anyway, I'd love to hear where your kids are, specifically with reading and math or where they were (back in first grade) if you dont mind sharing! There's much I love about homeschooling and in someways wish we could continue, but I do often worry that we're not "keeping up" just in case they do go back (and probably will) in the Fall...

Eczema and a New Layout!

Well not on Eczema! So if you look at the cake eating pics of Andrew you can see his drool rash under his chin. So last Fri and Sat it seemed to begin to migrate and I wasnt sure if we were dealing with a fungal thing or possible eczema (and given his reflux and my semi-suspicion re: dairy with him, eczema seemed like a possibility). So we went to the doc Wed and he wasnt exactly sure - thought it could be a combo of both but def. thought the dryer patches of skin looked like eczema. He prescribed a low dose cortisone cream even tho I knew I'd try not to use it (in folks with darker skin you have to be really careful with cortisone esp on the face as it can cause discoloration and be permanent). Our doc knew my concern but we agreed I'd take it and try on a hidden spot (plus he's so fair so prob wouldnt be a big issue anyway) if need be. BUT our first course of action was to switch cleansers and start using Cetaphil lotion 3x daily. WELL get this... it's almost all gone - I'm thrilled and hoping if in fact it is Eczema that we can keep it under control with this lotion... I've heard from so many moms that just using the right lotion has kept their/their kids' eczema in check - so YAHOO.! So glad we hit the right one the first time!

So finally finished this layout (think I started it about 10 days ago).... just no chunks of time to work on it! These were pics from Spring of this year and are somewhere on this blog......The second layout I did using Randi Oh's newest Holiday Digi kit available at the The DigiScrapBoutique..... Randi's got some great kits! AND a HUGE congrats to she and hubby as they welcomed home their son Jake this past week :) !! yay!!

Christmas 06.... I will say that my biggest challenge in being on a CT (creative team) is that you use products from usually just that designer. Since I'm so new at this and dont do a lot of extracting and making of new things....I generally use stuff from a ton of designers (the above layout had stuff from around 5 designers).... So hopefully I can make it work and still do a semi-decent layout!! :)

Still Recovering from Last Week!

I've been meaning to post pics from Andrew's Tol but just havent been able to get to it. We had our monthly meeting with our teacher advisor yesterday and this was an OT week, so just busy, busy (not to mention dh being out of town).

Soooo last Sat night we had Andrew's Tol. It was perfect! For Alex we did a huge party and he was fine with that (had no desire to deal with his Hanbok but was cool with all the folks there); for Ellie we were in Hawaii on her first bday (which was very fun!) so celebrated hers several weeks after we returned. The storm of the century hit with near hurricane force winds and several downed trees so most folks couldnt make it to our home - altho we still had a very nice day!

But I have to say, just having a few close friends and doing dinner - DEF my fav way of celebrating and I think Andrew thought so too. We had a ton of awesome Korean food, great friends and it was just perfect.

So at the Tol Table, Andrew chose first the pen - which indicates he will be "scholarly" and next he picked the "brush" which means he'll be artistic. Dh kept shoving the huge fishing knife and money in his direction (hunter, fishermen and/or well to do if pick the money... dh was so disappointed that none of the kids went for those :) ) but to no avail.

And in spite of the party being in the late PM/early evening and too cold to do too much outside the kids seemed to have a good time running around... Sooo here are the pics at long last! :)

Got the pen and into the mouth it goes!

Next was the brush!