Random Thoughts

1. School programs and parties should not be scheduled for the last few days of the week before school gets out for break - with multiple kids you have to be way ahead of the game to be able to navigate it along with getting ready for the holidays kid free....

2. My daughter is an excellent writer and she has a very loud commanding voice!

3. I love getting texts from my teenagers during the day - in school.... hummmm - at least they are thinking of me! :)

4. They idea of Christmas is great and spiritual but actually trying to pull it off - almost not worth it!

5. It is very important to let the garage door open all the way before backing out - sigh - yup didn't remember that this morning.

6. If all else fails replace the belt on the vacuum - presto works like new again - wish I would have thought of that a few months ago.

7. Thinking my random vertigo is finally going away - what's up with that - feeling like I spun in circles all day and night!

8. Finally feel like I belong in West Linn - had a get together with friends the other morning and I was thinking about how I have really great friends here in West Linn!

9. Actually super excited to have lots and lots of kids here tonight for pizza and fun. Everyone is bringing multiple friends over, Sean is gone and we can just hang..... really I am excited!

Twilight New Moon Necklaces

Here are my finished pieces - exciting! Each necklace has one 2x2 frame and one 1x3 frame with pictures on both sides. The pictures show 2 necklaces but that's so you can see both sides :) too fun! The Edward one says "Because he dazzled me." and under Vamp Girl it says bite me. The Jacob one says, "Because real men don't sparkle." and under Wolf Girl it says join the pack. Enjoy!

The Digital World....

I knew once I started I would be hooked - I held off as long as I could. I am completely entranced with photoshop and creating digital "stuff". I made the cute Halloween tags then went deep and found a free Christmas Kit online and created posters and flyers for an upcoming church activity. Then I went deeper and I have been creating frame necklaces for the New Moon premiere tomorrow night. They are so cool and Andrew is convinced I like Jacob more than his dad. I am having so much fun and could create all day! I haven't scrapbooked any pictures yet - I will still try to hold off on that one. I love using my hands and creating those but the flexibility and options and the cost might get me to go to the dark side one of these days! (shh I didn'treally
admit that!)
The larger squares are on a 2x2 frame and the longer ones are on a 1x3 frame. Such fun! I really need to get off the laptop and go clean the stupid house!

Trick or Treat

Flipping through the pictures to post I realized my older boys are missing.... made me sad that they are growing up so fast.
Anyways, we had a very busy Halloween! Andrew was Dan from Bakugan and Emily was little red riding hood; she hated putting her hood up! We had Andrew's last soccer game then went to the church for trunk or treat then off to the Bailey's for a pre party then off trick or treating with a bazillion kids down to the Edwards. We had yummy soup and hung out while the kids recuperated from walking forever. A few of the kids even went to a haunted house down in Willamette -where they were chased by a joker and a man with a mask and chainsaw - Emily had to sleep with a very high watt light bulb all night! Michael hung out with friends and trick or treated dressed as 4 amigos and Zach hung out with friends watching movies.
A fast but fun filled day - of course Sean thought its all ridiculous but I dressed up as a good witch just to embarrass him :)

Halloween Goodies

Because I had nothing else to do today; only a class party to plan and a costume to sew.... I had some much fun though! I made these fun treat bags for the girls at Emily's cheer - I love photoshop!

40 Years and 40 Things About Me

1. I could easily live without television.

2. I could not live without my computer

3. I love Mexican Food

4. I’m short enough to be able to join the Little People’s of America

5. I love taking pictures

6. I think I am fairly creative

7. My favorite creative outlet is to scrapbook

8. I dislike the water

9. I can’t swim

10. I absolutely cannot cook – I can bake though

11. I am so blessed to have my family nearby

12. Running outside with a friend on cold dark mornings is the best

13. I love to read and read and read; Stephen King to Stephanie Meyers

14. Sometimes trucks pass me on the freeway

15. Crooked things drive me crazy

16. Fall is my favorite time of year

17. Spring is my least favorite

18. I dislike change but I’m getting better at it

19. I am fairly quiet until I get to know you

20. Andrew makes me smile at the things he says

21. Emily is my girly athletic girl; the best of best world

22. Michael’s outlook and creativeness inspires me

23. Zach there much he can’t do (maybe drive….JK)

24. Costco chocolate cake is die for!

25. Ann Taylor Loft is my favorite clothing store

26. I haven’t bought a new pair of shoes in forever!

27. I have only lived 6.6 miles away from where I grew up….

28. I am honest and I do not like to break rules

29. I love my tiny wrists:)

30. A good wind storm is the best

31. A snow storm is almost just as good.

32. I would love to storm chase and see a tornado

33. I have jumped out of airplane

34. I can kick butt sledding in the snow

35. I would rather be cold than hot

36. My stupid mini van is extremely functional

37. I would love a black Mercedes wagon

38. Halloween is favorite holiday

39. If I could go back in time I would be Pioneer

40. Life just wouldn’t be same without diet coke!

Autumn in West Linn

I was in awe last fall at the drive into my neighborhood, the leaves changing color was spectacular -this year I made sure to get a few pictures. It is truly beautiful; it seems to change daily and increase in intensity. I am so blessed to witness this amazing view everyday!

Happy 7th Birthday Andrew

Andrew was thrilled to have 3 birthday - one more than Emily. Its always a contest ya know. We were in Klamath Falls for a golf tournament for Zach and so Andrew celebrated his actual birthday in K Falls. He woke up to donuts and a new bike! What a great deal since we rode bikes all over the Running Y! With Sean never home we celebrated a family party the night we drove home. We pulled in and Jenna had decorated the house all perfect and Sean wrapped all the gifts and Grandma and Grandpa came over and we had a great celebration! So here are 7 things I love about Andrew:
1. He says the funniest off the wall things
For Example: In explaining before his friend party we talked about saying thank you etc. and so I said "What do you say when you get two of something or you get something you already have?" "That's easy mom, I say Thank You very much it will go perfect with my collection!"
2. He still likes to cuddle
3. He is a fantastic story teller
4. His front teeth are loose and so he talks funny
5. He loves to wear pajamas
6. He loves to be outside
7. He could go days without watching TV

Happy 7th Birthday Andrew

Fender Bender

This summer all I do is drive everyone every where. Last week I had to drive Zach to his tournament in Woodburn race home to get Michael and take him to SK8 camp in Lake Oswego come back and get Emily and Andrew ready to go back to get Michael then back down to Woodburn to get Zach and bring everyone home. Somewhere in there we picked up Michael's friend Taylor in Tigard and took Zach back up to the Oregon Golf Club before we headed downtown to North East Portland for appointment. Traffic coming home was awful on I-5 so Emily and Andrew and I took highway 43 down thru Lake Oswego and we made awesome time 15 minutes - yes! Then bam literally out of know where we went flying forward hard. You know those commercials where the happy family is chatting and bam the get hit - well that happened we never saw it coming or anything. Thank goodness the kids were tired and gelled in front of the tv watching Sponge Bob and not squirreling around in their seats. So much for me making great time! The police came and apparently the girl behind the car behind me grabbed her phone and slammed under the SUV in front of her and the SUV rammed into us. Great - that's all we needed because I have all the time in the world to deal with this. None of us were hurt and they car is still completely functionalble - I just look more stupid now driving the ridiculous mini van around all beat up. We ended the day too with the long drive out to Newberg to stay out there so we could be an hour closer to Zach's tournament the next day. Ugh! The car is still not fixed - what a much un needed headache!

Creature Feature

We celebrated Emily's 9th and Andrew's 7th Birthday with a birthday party at home with the reptile man. I have to laugh that I figured no one would really come considering it was during the week and during the middle of the day and during the middle of the summer and with only 1 week notice but just about everyone came and it was so cool! Unfortunately Emily developed a fever in the middle of it but despite that glitch it was amazing and so much fun! He brought a viper and rattlesnake, a kissing lizard, a wall climbing gecko, a huge boa and an alligator and much more. The kids all got to hold a snake, alligator and everyone helped to hold up the huge boa. So much fun!

4th of july

We use to celebrate the 4th with a big barbecue and parade in our old neighborhood so when we moved last year we were lost - this year we decided to start up our favorite tradition and invite family, friends and neighbors to celebrate with a good old barbecue and family fireworks. Hot Dogs and Hamburgers with lots of fruit and chips and yummy deserts along with cans and cans of silly string (thank you Jason) and delicious homemade ice cream (thank you Leslie) made this old tradition in our new town super fun plus Ian learned to ride his bike and Emily and Olivia sang a bueatiful duet of the star spangled banner! We will definitely do it again next year so please plan on coming!

Happy 9th Birthday Emily

Every year we celebrate Emily's Birthday on the 4th of July by going out to breakfast at Elmer's in Tigard. We all eat a huge breakfast and then they bring her ice cream with a candle in it and we all sing her happy birthday.

We then come home and open gifts and eat yummy cake. This year she chose the costco 7 layer chocolate cake. Good choice Emily; Zach and I both had that cake too! We put sparkler candles on and it took her forever to blow them out! Her face cracks me up in the picture she is blowing so hard!

I have a friend who on her blog writes things she loves about her child on their birthday according to their age - I love that idea so Lisa I am going to copy you - thanks!
Nine Things I love about Emily
1. You are a girly girl
2. Your a great leader
3. Your not afraid to get up in front of people
4. Your kind and thoughtful to others; minus your brothers!
5. Your a great athlete - especially at cheerleading and tumbling
6. I love that you can out arm wrestle the boys in your class last year!
7. You write amazing stories
8. You are extremely responsible - maybe even too much sometimes!
9. You bear your testimony every fast Sunday

79th Junior Amateur Golf Tournament Champion

Zach finally won his division this year at the state match play tournament. He placed second during the stroke play on day one and was seeded number 2. On Tuesday he easily won his match and then realized he would probably be playing his two good friends over the next few days. On Wednesday he play Nigel Lett and did a great job winning 8 & 6 and the next day he played Max Carter and again won - watching Max not watch Zach's putt on 14 to win just about killed me. It is so hard to watch good friends play each other - it actually brought tears to my eyes. This day however, Zach played awesome and on hole 9 Max was way off the green and down a hill in the dirt and bushes and he chips it up and the ball lands less than a foot away from the hole. Zach being in the bunker I was thinking uh oh Max might get him on this hole and Zach chips it out of the bunker 6 inches from the hole. It was an amazing shots for both of them - it was like Max had 4 aces and Zach said yea well I have a royal flush. Friday came and Zach had to play Sulman Raza his rival friend Eugene. These two have gone back and forth for years and it wasn't until last year that Zach and the other golfers learned they could beat Sulman. Sean flew back in on a late flight to come and watch and we were confidant he was going to win. It was finally going to be his turn. Starting off both boys were nervous and Sulman missed a couple of shots and gave Zach a 5 up lead that Zach never gave back until Sulman birdied 13 & 14 and I have to admit I was a bit nervous because when Sulman is on he is on and he does not give up. Well on 15 Sulman missed a putt for birdie and Zach chipped it in from just off the back of the green and it dropped right in the hole and he sealed the deal and won. I was thrilled for him and so excited - he did it and after a fantastic week he definatley deserved it! Great job Zach and congratulatons.

We were "knifed".....

I woke this morning to look out the window to a bunch of white things sticking out of my lawn. I walked outside to find toilet paper on the bushes and a lot of white plastic knifes sticking in the front lawn.... to funny!

The thing is Michael was with his friend when he took the knifes from his house to TP the other night which they didn't do. We laughed and I guess being "knifed" makes for easy clean-up. Oh, the life of teenage middle schoolers!

Happy 15th Birthday Zach

I cannot believe I have a child old enough to get his permit to drive a car! (Well he failed the first attempt to get his permit...) He has finally grown into his own. He has his opinions and thinks he knows everything about everything. (Like knowing everything about driving so the permit test would be easy - yeah proved that one right!) Zach is a great kid, he is polite and thoughtful. The other day he sees the neighbor unloading his car and Zach jumps on over to help... He is responsible but a huge procrastinator! He is constantly growing out of his clothes - finally - and one of these days he will get his permit and he will pass and drive a car....

Kindergarten Graduation

I can't believe my youngest is finished with Kindergarten! What a great year at a great school. Andrew loves school and loves learning about everything. He has made great friends and even though I might not like him growing up so fast he is ready to be a first grader!! Thanks to Mrs. Aguilar and Mrs. McKelvie for a very successful year.

Dirt, Water and an Imagination

You can always count on Michael to come up with a creative activity..... We have an empty spot in our front yard that the boys have found. Andrew had been using the area to build beaver dams and create sculptures in it but then he got Michael involved. After a few hours with lots of dirt and water they built a really cool track to race monster trucks on... to fun!!

OSAA High School Golf State Championships

Zach took 3rd Place at his High School State Championships as a Freshman. I am so proud of him and it was so exciting to watch. He had an okay round the first day starting off with 3 bogeys in the first 4 holes - I thought oh my but he kicked into gear and ended up in 6th place with a 75. The second day again he bogeyed the first hole but again pulled it together and was on fire. He even kept it together even when the U of O coach followed him for 6 holes (Zach mellowed once his coach told him he was wasn't just watching him so to relax) it worked because he was 2 under going into hole 17 and with the buzz that he was up there in contention to win. He pared 17 but the nerves finally got to him and he pulled it left on 18 and ended up with another bogey to finish the round 1 under which tied for low score at the tournament. Unfortunately, the seniors on 18 birdied and eagled to tie for 1st. It was surreal to watch and see he was up there with the big boys. His friend and rival Sulman Raza from Eugene placed 5th and throughout their OGA careers they have been the steady players - it was neat to see them in the top ten and both on the All American Team as freshman. It was truly an exciting day and a positive one in Zach's desire to play golf in college and professionally. It was also well deserved as he is constantly practicing everyday to become a better player - he recently told me "If I'm not up practicing someone else will be...." Great job and as your mom I am so proud of all that you have accomplished with bringing your team to state and bringing a cohesiveness to the team as well. Job well done!

Basket Case

Sometimes I really feel like a basket case.
Its a huge balancing act and I feel like I cannot even speak in correct sentences let alone handle all that needs to be handled.
I apologize to all those who look at me and think she is off her rocker - I probably am but what choice do I have.
In little over one hour tonight I took one child to a baseball game in WL, did a photo re shoot, took another child to cheer in Clackamas, arranged an overnight sitter for Sunday, tried to find a sub for church, went back to baseball and watched my son make a great out at tee-ball, photographed an impromptu baseball team (my boss forgot he had one scheduled and I was there with the camera mmm...), had a quick meeting with my boss when he arrived after I was done taking all their pictures, got my children fed (McDonalds....), ran home and checked in did a few dishes and scrapped hot glue residue off my floor, chatted with my husband on the phone and went to a meeting for fundraising at the gym. No wonder my head spins - I'm not even sure on where to cut back - that's the sad part. My kids are not over involved; there just is a lot of them going in different directions. I wouldn't change my life for anything - I love being a mom and I suppose being a basket case. So for now I will
embrace running around with my head cut off...

What's New....

Seems like I haven't had a moment to post anything while so much has been happening!

1. Emily's cheer team won 2nd place at the Pac West Nationals in LA. Her team now goes on to a virtual competition - judged via video. Her routine will be posted on Varsity.com mid May.

2. Andrew started t-ball. Its so cute and funny. The first couple of practices they didn't even know what base was what. They always think they win and they always do because they all hit and run all the bases... Two of his good friends are also on the team - Hunter and Ian!

3. Oregon Golf Club Sock Hop (Daddy Daughter Date Night)
This year they got to dress up in their 50's fashion and hit the dance floor. They always have such a good time together... to fun!

4. Zach is doing great this season with his Golf at West Linn High School. Its so different than his competitive golf during the summers. Its easier and harder - he is having to work for a team and not just individually. This week he was West Linn's athlete of the week. He is down in Arizona with Sean being custom fitted for clubs. He has grown so much over the last year and he is stronger too.... hopefully now he will be unstoppable!!

5. I've decided what I want to be when I grow up. I love my job, I love fiddling with pictures to make them better. I love taking zits off teenagers and having them get their pictures back and go wow I look good without really knowing what I have done. Its fun. I recently also made a DVD for the cheer team. It had pictures and video to music - it was a blast to create - very time consuming but so much fun to see the final result! So if anyone ever needs help restoring or wanting a picture fixed I can do it for you... :)