Cute acapella song thanks to miss-mary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8

Fall Happenings

We went to Atlanta when the boys were out of school for a day. We saw IKEA & the Atlanta Aquarium. It was really spectacular.

The drive down was mostly uneventful. We need to start bringing an empty Gatorade bottle when we drive long distances. We were in the far left lane of SEVEN lanes of traffic & I wasn't about to change lanes that many times...

The fish were HUGE & swimming in the biggest tank I had ever seen. We loved the sharks, the sting rays, and the beluga whales. We walked through everything twice. Oh yea, the penguins were super cute & interactive as well.

We were so lucky to be able to go to the YSA temple trip in October. Lori T kept our boys (& thanked us & made us feel great for going!). The temple is such a special place to be -- so glad to be able to go & feel that sort of peace.

We came back & quickly went to the chili cook off/trunk or treat at the church.

On the day before Halloween Jared's class went pumpkin and apple picking. The kindergartners were SOOO cute & funny. The little boy in yellow stuck his finger in Jared's ear in the other shot. ;) Too stinkin' cute!

30" Thursday LO

Lain Ehmann has fun 30-minute layout challenges on Thursdays on her ScrapHappy blog. I did this LO quick - no perfectionism allowed when the clock is ticking!

Chris had a blast with the science fair. We gathered data at the church by shooting marshmallows through a gun that was pressurized by a tire pump. Lucky kid has an engineering mind & dad.

Scrapping & my desk shows it!

I have been taking a class at NYC scraps that posts a new layout every 48 hours AND doing a project for the upcoming Fiskateers round-up. My huge L-shaped desk is beginning to look neglected. It's probably time to slow down the scissors for a few minutes to tidy things up.

I'm taking a new class at NYCscraps!

I earned money tutoring algebra a few weeks ago (first $ in over 5 years!) and spent it on a new class at http://www.nycscraps.com/ -- the class is wonderful. Great handouts. A supportive message board. Super sketches. Every 48 hours a new lesson is posted & in theory you complete a new layout. I have done 3 LOs in 5 days -- a new record for me.

The kids are out of school today & we're just hanging around the house so far. Maybe we'll go to the Atlanta aquarium sometime over the break, but not today.

Congratulations Holly & Adam!

So happy to find out that my friend Holly & her husband are having a baby boy. I was looking for pictures of my crib & found some really cute pictures of baby Jared a few years ago. I thought I would share. (Quicker than sending email too!)

September happenings

So the kids are all in school & I have SEVEN hours a day. The house is still messy. Dinner still doesn't always make it to the table. Life is pretty much the same. I guess it just goes to show that SOMEDAY never comes. New skills & habits are the way to changes -- now or when the kids all go to school. I do have a few Independent Study college classes hanging over my head with some pretty tight deadlines -- time to get to work!

Jared loves kindergarten (& his teacher is WONDERFUL). Ryan is loving 4th grade & happily celebrated a Because of Winn-Dixie party yesterday with egg-salad sandwiches (Ewwwwwwww!). Chris is loving 8th grade & finished multiple assignments in the last few days & is turning them in !!! This picture is our traditional first day of school shot.

I have been going to the gym EVERY day. I feel better & I am hoping that eventually all this hard work is going to kick in. Scott comes to classes when work & baseball allow & the kids play in KidFit (the big gym).

Work is going great for Scott. Every a.m. interested parties assemble in the parking lot to fly RC airplanes. It's quite a hobby & it keeps morale up.

Jared climbs the rock wall at the gym & knows no fear. He about tipped upside down the other day (in his harness) & I was nervous for a few minutes. The guys that run the ropes are great -- and their names echo our kids' names. Funny. Jared's two little buddies came over the other night to play & I played with my new toy & took pics of the kids jumping off of our bouldering wall. Ryan had a blast playing camera games & doing Spider Man jumps, time-lapsed falls, & basketball slam dunks. These were my favs.

Most recent trip to Florida

We just returned from a quick trip to Florida. Scott helped Brandon & Bret work on their lake house. They left before 7 a.m. on Thursday & Friday & then worked very, very hard until late in the afternoon both days. The boys & I hung out with Nette & Mikan, swimming & going to the beach. It was a nice change of pace.

The beach was lovely. We went on the 4th of July to D's beach. Then we tried going to Mickler's on the 6th of July but found that the tide was up & there were way too many people. I don't know if there was even one spot for a chair within 200 yards of the boardwalk. We immediately packed up & went back to D's beach again & had the beach to ourselves. It rained for about 10" but it wasn't cold so we just stayed.

Someone always gets hurt. This time it was Christopher & Jared. On the night before we left, Chris ran his toe into the fireplace hearth & broke it. (purple, ouch) Then, he was doing the Nestea-plunge into the neighbor's pool in Florida & scraped up the front of his shin. Jared was scootering barefoot on the yard out front & scraped up his toe, foot, and knee. Ryan didn't get hurt (this time).

This picture makes me wonder where all the time has gone. The kids have definitely grown since the last time I took one of these 3-in-a-row shots. Christopher has a definite man-voice, is taller than his mom, & needs a new pair of church pants every five minutes. Ryan is fun-loving, playful, & a great big brother to Jared. And Jared is going to kindergarten in a little over a month.

On the way back from Florida, we went to Atlanta & saw Mike & Katia get married in the temple (in Spanish). It was fun to be in the temple with friends & to see these two start their new life together. Scott has been Mike's home teacher for several years & worked with him in the YM's presidency as well. Congratulations!

Backup your files... please? For me!

Yesterday, I was trying to fix MS Word on my computer when SHAZAM! I got the dreaded blue screen in Windows. The computer would work for a few minutes & then again CRASH. It was so sad. I went to the office store & bought a new external hard drive (good deal!) & loaded all of the important stuff (the ONLY copies of photos for the last 5 years, genealogy, book in progress, etc.). It feels so good to have it done!

I am working on some scrapbook pages for a secret challenge that I am working on. Once they go public I will try to link here! They're top secret until then. ;)

The kids are enjoying summer vacation by going to the sports center/gym with me every morning. They are so great at making up fun games - wall ball, kick ball, basketball, jump rope, & other sorts. The workers are always happy to see them so it helps me get there too.

We were able to go to the temple in Columbia last night with Brad who is going to Cambodia/Viet Nam on his mission. We are so excited for him & felt so privileged to be there on the day he went for the first time. Mary stayed with our kids & they had lego-building competitions!

I will try to add some photos soon. I think we're still in backup mode on the computer & I don't want to goof anything up... okay, and I tried making smaller copies of pics in February & ended up reducing one of my favorite pictures ever (the original) so it doesn't print right.

Happy day.