F-R-E-E that spell free

credit report dot com ba-by!

I love this commercial! It cracks me up every time I see it and we will walk around the house singing this song. I love how once they buy the car they are cruising in thier used sub compact playing thier instruments. You gotta watch till the very end though! I just LOVE the look on his face when he is done singing and he does his little head bob thing. Gets me every time! Enjoy, but be careful, you may find yourself humming this catchy little tune. Don't say I didn't warn you! :0)

Supah Dupah....

Quick post. I have been wanting to post here since I returned from Tennessee, but I have not had the time. So in an effort to not be a blog slacker, I am posting a quickie.

Tennessee = Fun

Old friends, new friends, creative inspiration. It doesn't get any better!

Yesterday- Happy Earth Day!! Go green. My daughter reminded me that by recycling one product will offset 3 hours of television. I know that she is "globally" conscious, but I personally I think she may have been campaigning for more T.V.!

My little darlings were promoted to 6th degree green belts in Tae Kwon Do this evening. They both recieved an EXCELLENT during their testing. To give you some perspective on how much this means, only 5 out of roughly 45 students recieved this honor! This means that they did an outstanding job! WOW! We were excited for them, but more importantly, they were proud of themselves!

I am feverishly working on finishing up my projects from the Scrap Etc. event so that I can move on to some other things.

I have to make a costume for our docent trip to Sutter's Fort by next Tuesday. I have volunteered to take the photos of all of the kids, prepare the class board (which is HUGE) that will be on display that day at the fort. I also have to get a costume together for myself because I am in charge of a station that day! Oh yes! I will be making corn husk dolls with all of the kids. Totally crafty and right up my alley!

I am in the process of solidifying our summer activities and childcare. Summer will include Algebra Academy, Sports Camp, YMCA, camping at Patrick's Point, 2 birthday parties and 9 days in Kauii! Lots of great stuff going on, but lots of planning and prep for me! Whew, cleansing breath!!!!!!!

So that is it in a nut shell. I am grateful for my time away and am grateful to be home. Here is a photo of the reunion! Awwwwwwwww!

Dude!

Yes, my vacation is almost here and I am almost ready! I am excited to go to Tennessee and see my friend and what her life there is all about. I am excited to go to the scrapping event in Nashville. I am excited to have 1 week that I don't have my regular "responsibilities"! I am also nervous! Nervous to leave my family for the length of time. I know that both they and I will be okay. It's just that I have never been away from any of them for that length of time! I love my home and the comfort that it brings me, so even though I am looking forward to my trip, it's hard to leave.
Well I need to be off to continue to prepare things for my trip and my family while I am away. I will leave you with this.......

I thee wed

Today is my 13th wedding anniversary! Yay us. We reminisced about the last 13 years together this morning starting from the beginning of our marriage. That was funny! We have changed so much in so many ways since the beginning. I suppose that the trick is that we have done it together. On my home page the word of the day was "coalesce". What a perfect word for such a wonderful day. Here is it's definition:

coalesce • \koh-uh-LESS\ • verb1 : to grow together 2 a : to unite into a whole : fuse*b : to unite for a common end : join forces 3 : to arise from the combination of distinct elements

I was filled today with such a sense of gratefulness for everything in my life. I told my mom that I really feel like I have everything I ever hoped for. No, we do not live in a castle by any stretch of the imagination, but our home is filled with love. We don't have the fanciest cars or lots of excess cash in our bank account, but we do have what I concider the most important things in life. We have eachother, we have our children, we have our faith in God. All of the other worldly things are just icing on the cake. Don't get me wrong though, I do love my "icing" to be sure!

I am grateful that I chose him and he chose me. I am glad that we decided to "join forces towards a common end". It makes me happy that we have "grown together and have become united as a whole". I wouldn't change a thing.

If you know us (and if you are reading this you probably do) you know where we have come from. You know the path that we have taken and know that because of our lives we really shouldn't be where we are today. Thank God, literally, that HE has blessed us and our marriage. So today we celebrate our marriage, our progress, the fact that we have beat the odds. What a wonderful journey it has been. I am blessed.

Laughter is the BEST medicine

So it would seem that I am on a bit of a video kit lately, but this one was to irresistible to pass up! I have seen it several time and it NEVER fails to put a smile on my face. I hope it does the same for you!

My better is better than your better!

Don't ask me why, I just LOVE this commercial! The tune is kinda catchy, don't ya think?

What a day (a play by play)

In the spirit of "March madness" I decided to give you a play by play of what I consider a perfectly perfect day!

The day started out great with us all waking up on our own, without the sound of an alarm clock! I love days like that. Your body gets the rest it needs and wakes up when it's had enough. My husband brought me coffee in bed. This is starting out to be a very nice day indeed! I got all caught up on my reality television shows while my husband played his bass and the kids played outside.

Once I finally dragged my behind out of bed I got in the shower and we went to lunch. There is a new restaurant that we've been wanting to try but it is always crazy busy. Well, as you may have guessed there was no wait and we got right in! We had a great lunch together. OH! I forgot to mention that it was 74 degrees here today, so we ate outside on the patio. Ahhhh!

Alright, so after our lunch we walked around town and enjoyed the beautiful day. I went into one of my favorite stores, Creme de la Creme, to say hi to my friend. We visited Watermelon Music so my son could play the drums. We went to a shoe store called Shuz and tried on some comfy shoes. We didn't purchase anything, but it was fun!

Next we were off to a local art gallery gallery that is jam packed full of cool stuff! My daughter and I went off on our own for awhile and she learned a few things about art and different artists' styles. That was really cool to see her absorb all of the information I was giving her and actually enjoy the art.

Next we stop at The Yogurt Shack for some soft serve goodness! We have waited a long time for a place like this to come to town. I could go there everyday!

After all of that we came home and dyed our Easter eggs. That was fun and messy. My daughter used the "crayon" that comes with the kit to write "Thank you Jesus" on one of her eggs. My son wrote "I love God". Love that.

So that's about it. We had a great day hangin' out as a family today enjoying the weather and each other's company. Probably kinda boring to read, but it sure was fun! If you have made it this far into the post you deserve some kind of reward! For the time being you will just have to accept my thanks for hanging in there and reading all the way through.

Ode to my (imaginary) husband

Today the United States recognizes one of it's little known hero's, my imaginary husband. Born John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed. He was indeed a real man, not just a myth or story. When I was a little girl it was my dream to grow up to be Wonder Woman and marry Johnny Appleseed. My family thinks it's hilarious, I think it's pretty random. Why him? Who even knows who Johnny Appleseed is anyways? It did not matter to me if you had heard of him or not. My conviction was unwavering and I was certain that one day I would be his wife! He died in 1847 making it a dream impossible to realize. Upon further inspection of my crush one finds that he was actually a good man! Who know that at such a young age I had such a knack for picking men? Here is a bit of background on my would be husband:
Johnny Appleseed’s dream was for a land where blossoming apple trees were everywhere and no one was hungry. A gentle and kind man, he slept outdoors and walked barefoot around the country planting apple seeds everywhere he went. It is even told that he made his drinking water from snow by melting it with his feet.

Johnny was a friend to everyone he met. Indians and settlers -- even the animals -- liked Johnny Appleseed. His clothes were made from sacks and his hat was a tin pot. He also used his hat for cooking. His favorite book was the Bible.

What's not to like, right? But alas, it was not to be. Instead, I married Superman, not too shabby!

Happy Birthday to you......

This is for my dear friend Jill who is having her birthday today. She moved across the world (okay, well actually the country) from me, so I am not able to wish her happy birthday in person. This is a little something that me and the kids did for her. Enjoy!

I hope you have a HAPPY BIRTHDAY my friend!

This is...

my daughters favorite show for the time being. She loves iCarly.
It is a cute show and the shows stars seem to be good role models. I did this layout for her "This is you" journal. The kids have their own web show. I like the concept that they had an idea and decided to give it a try. Their web show is very popular watched by people all over the world.
I think children are often underestimated and think that this is a great, optimistic message to give them. In fact, much better than some of the other shows that I have seen where they have no respect for authority and are generally unruly kids. Okay, off my soap box now!

Sassafras Lass

I am dying for this paper by Sassafras Lass! I don't know exactly why, but I LUV it. I think it is soooooo sweet and darling. I can't wait till it comes out! I am sure that once I get it (and I will) I will be unable to cover it up with anything. I think it is just perfect the way it is!

The promise of Spring

Spring is not here quite yet, but there are signs of it everywhere! I have bulbs blooming in my yard producing fragrant blossoms that hint of what is to come. I love that even when the weather may appear bitter and bleak, these tell tell signs of Spring are all around us reminding us that something new is just around the corner. Even when it may seem like the season we are currently in is going to last forever, it too will come to an end and new life will emerge. This time of year symbolizes a very important spiritual lesson for me. One that is easy to forget when times are hard. These little delights could easily be over looked if I chose to focus on what I can predominantly see, like barren trees, empty fields, the lack of colorful blossoms in my garden. Instead I chose to seek out the tiny treats that God has placed on this Earth that remind me that life is ever changing and a new season is fast approaching!



I wanted to include this photo of a quite amazing sunset that my husband captured. Isn't it breathtaking? It looks as though the horizon is going to catch fire at any moment! Gorgeous!