Grounds Scraps of Life

A few photos...

2011-03-04T22:07:00.000-08:00

Been kind of heavy on the serious posts so now here is a lighter post. Here is what we are up to these days...

Dinner with highschool friends

Honor Roll Breakfast-What I learned this trimester...how many pictures claymation takes.

A Quest for Limited Edition Glass Balls on Camano Island

A friend's gymnastics meet

Gymnast Friend

All-State Junior Band with Mr. G

Enjoying listening to the other groups at All-State

Only the Beginning...

2011-03-04T21:40:00.000-08:00

Yes, I am still talking about Beginnings...An update about that first "Beginning". I really got into the whole "Move" thing for about 23 days...then I got discouraged. I was moving every day and eating healthy so I thought, but the scale wasn't moving. I wasn't expecting great things to happen, but at least to see a little nudge to the lighter side, but no dice. I was actually going up on the scale and had noticed that it was starting to be a trend. So I stopped "moving". I decided to go to my doctor to see why I was gaining weight and felt as puffy as a puffer fish.

That was the beginning of a bunch of tests and follow up doctors appointments. First it was a blood test. Then a spirometer test. Then another blood test. Then it was time for answers (or no answers). Cholesterols good, blood pressure good, oh...blood glucose looks a little high, lets test again but this time, lets test your A1C.

That was the beginning...the beginning of 2 new medical diagnoses for me and a new way of life. I have been diagnosed with Diabetes Type II and with Asthma.

So, I have begun to test my blood sugars, count carbs, and go to Weight Watchers. I am learning a lot. I am learning that I really like my carbs. I am learning that eating the right way needs to be a balance. I am learning that it hurts to prick my finger. I am also learning that my blood levels are all over the place. It is only the beginning.....

It's Just the Beginning

2011-01-06T21:05:00.000-08:00

Okay, if you are seeing this post you are either family, a very close friend, or someone who follows my blog because I am not going to "advertise" this post.

So here goes...I am overweight. My medical records read "obese". I have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea. Heart disease, stroke, and diabetes run in my family. The high blood pressure can lead to kidney failure, stroke and heart failure. I have been this way since Peggy was born. I have had some success of weight loss a few years back but he has come back.

I haven't tried really hard to do anything about it. I admit, I sit on my butt watching Biggest Loser while eating a bowl of ice cream-not just one scoop, but a bowl of ice cream. I can devour a row of Oreo's in one sitting (or standing at the counter for that matter). I LOVE baked goods and have a really hard time leaving them alone. Quite often I will go on a candy binge...Brach's "Autumn Mix", Candy Corn, Indian Corn, "Cupid Mix" (those mellow creme things), Chicks and Rabbits, Circus Peanuts, and oh yeah chocolate. I'm a sucker for the Hershey's Eggs too. However, I can also stay away from candies and sweets. We still have Easter Candy and Halloween Candy left over from last year in the cupboard in the "candy bucket"...I can leave that stuff alone. But when I get on one of those binges, nothing is stopping me. I can eat potato chips and onion dip till I puff up from too much salt. Veggies are rather nonexistent in my diet. Yeah, I will eat lettuce and tomatoes either as a salad or on a burger. A handful of raw carrots (with ranch dip of course) will sometimes end up on my plate if I'm at a party. Corn and potatoes are staples in our meals. I don't fix veggies very often because I don't "like" them. If I serve green beans, they are Linda's canned beans cooked with bacon and onions, and I will force myself to a "No Thank You" helping. My eating habits have a lot to be desired.

I finally have decided that I AM going to do something about my weight this year!

I follow a couple of blogs of ladies that I have been "introduced to" in the scrapbooking cyberland (and at conventions). I have taken classes from these wonderful ladies at Big Picture Classes (and at conventions)where I interacted with them on almost a daily basis for weeks on forums, web chats, or video messages.

One of these ladies is Cathy Zielske. She is the one that has really given me the inspiration to do something about my weight. Maybe it is because she is from my hometown, a couple of years younger than me, went to my rival high school, or just plain motivational. She has taken on a journey that started out as a weight loss journey but turned out to be a journey of athleticism and better health through "Moving More and Eating Less". She has lost about 30 lbs but is one fit, healthy woman in her mid 40's. She still struggles but is in a much happier place. I want to be like her...a little less hefty, fit, and happy. I am taking her challenge of Moving More and Eating Less.

So in comes the second scrapbooking lady, Ali Edwards. She has a project called "One Little Word" (among others I have mentioned on my blog). I played along in 2009 choosing "Organize" as my One Little Word and in 2010 with "Revitalize". I don't believe I ever shared them opening here on my blog or told anyone else about them except on Ali's blog. I was pretty good in the beginning of the year keeping focus on my word, but as the year went on, they tended to be put on the back burner.

I have chosen "MOVE" as my One Little Word for 2011. This year I am going to keep focus on my One Little Word. It isn't a "deep" philosophical word but more of an "action" word. I am committing myself to MOVE as in exercise, take the stairs, park farther away from entrances, and spend less time on my butt! I have committed myself to a minimum of 30 minutes of moving a day.

I am going to MOVE to a healthier BMI. I am going to MOVE to a healthier way of eating. I am going to MOVE to a better me.

If you have stayed with this for this long...Thanks for reading my story. And thank you CZ and AE...you both have had an influence on both my scrapbooking and my life.

I leave you with a visual of my "Beginning"

(I'm not totally thrilled with how I completed this page so I will be making some minor changes to what I did but this is the "Beginning".) Thank you to CZ and DesignerDigitals.com for the template.

Now Where Did I Leave Off, Oh Yeah....

2011-01-02T21:52:00.000-08:00

Okay, things got crazy after the 12th! So, here are the missing links....

For those of you very astute readers, yes, I did not include Dec. 28 or Dec. 31....those days did happen however, I did not take pictures or document those days. I will end up documenting those days and will post when I have the chance.

Enjoy and Happy New Year!

December 12

2010-12-14T21:06:00.000-08:00

Look, the lights are on.

December 11

2010-12-14T08:12:00.000-08:00

Busy Saturday at the Grounds' residence. Chris had to work (good for wallet/bad for tree time) so the kids and I and Aunt Jami went Christmas tree hunting all by ourselves. We did a pretty good job if I say so, but this is the first time Chris has missed out in our 22 years of getting a tree! We paid extra and had the trees bound--made it much easier to keep them on the back of the truck. After dropping off Aunt Jami and her tree, we headed back to our house. The kids weren't very happy when I announced that we were all going to clean our rooms (me included). Peggy and I were the only ones to finish--Kelly is still working on his (3 days later). Chris got home and we had a very nice family dinner before Kelly and I got dressed up and headed to the Symphony to see (hear) Romeo and Juliet....I'm happy that he enjoys this. A stop at Dick's for a milkshake for Kelly and a real HOT FUDGE sundae for me ended our day.

Still doing the December Daily...
December 11, 2010

December 10

2010-12-10T23:24:00.000-08:00

Here it is....

Thanks to AEdwards for her stitching, templates, and word art; KPeriet for her Days of December Stamps; and MMartin for the "cardstock". Oh and Peggy for being sick today so that I would tackle our family room computer area.

Why is 6 afraid of 7? Because 7 8 9!

2010-12-09T23:14:00.000-08:00

A little humor for you ;o) Here they are, December 7, 8 and 9!

December 7 is a two pager.

December 8...some treats from my clients to me.

December 9....It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

December 6

2010-12-07T07:42:00.000-08:00

The China is out!!! Still looking great after 17 seasons of use! I LOVE my Christmas China.

December 5, 2010

2010-12-06T11:25:00.000-08:00

The lights went up on the house yesterday! Kelly and I went shopping to upgrade our lights and when we got home, he put them up. We were racing to try to get them up before Chris made it home from the Apple Cup, but that didn't happen. Kelly is a "deliberate" worker. It took about 2 1/2 hours to get them up, but they are beautiful! Thanks Kelly.

December 4, 2010

2010-12-06T11:19:00.000-08:00

I was asked to volunteer (actually didn't have a chance to say no) at the Teddy Bear Breakfast at the Festival of Trees for the Providence Foundation. Since the funds from this event go to Children's Services and Providence Children's Therapy Center is part of Children's Services, we needed to have some of our staff present. I was lucky enough to "guard" the Live Life One Cupcake At A Time tree sponsored by Western Washington Physcians Group and designed by Joy Works. The children's faces as they looked at this display, especially the candy jars, were so full of joy and wonder. They did a beautiful job. I am sure that I will be volunteering again next year.

December 3

2010-12-04T23:37:00.000-08:00

December Daily 2010

2010-12-03T07:09:00.000-08:00

I got bitten by the December Daily bug. We will see how long this will last. I'm doing it digi so hopefully it will be easier to do. So follow along if you would like.

December 1
Our "Measly" Christmas Decorations-check back in two weeks...should be done by then.

December 2
The Kids' Wishlists

I have to thank Ali Edwards and other designers at Designer Digitals for these beautiful Daily December Templates, word art, brushes, and digital papers that you will see during the coming days.

Counting My Blessings

2010-11-27T09:09:00.000-08:00

Happy Belated Thanksgiving. It's still Thanksgiving weekend, does that count? Traveled to Spokane for the holiday to spend time with Mike and Linda and Jami (we brought her along). It is a wintry wonderland here but has warmed up from the single digits to the high 20's and low 30's. The kids are loving the snow as it has been snowing every day since we have been here.

Cold weather at home gave the kids and I an early start on the holiday weekend with snow days that will be taking away vacation time in the summer...bummer.

Choose not to attempt Black Friday and even managed to avoid Internet shopping too. Let's hope I didn't miss out on some good deals.

For 2010, I will leave you with a list of 10 things I am thankful for:

These beautiful children
My wonderful hubby
My mother
My "extra large" family
My hubby's family
My friends and coworkers
The Internet
My camera
A warm house
Food on the table

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

It's Pumpkin Time!!!

2010-10-08T20:11:00.000-07:00

Take a look at these cute little pumpkins that I got to take photos of yesterday! These are our friends' (Scott and Stephanie) little cuties. I suggested we hit the pumpkin patch for some pictures. We had a great time and I got some great shots!

I miss my little pumpkins, but these will fill the bill for now. Thanks Scott and Steph for such cute little kids.

These are the same friends that invite us for quading too! Just spent the last camping weekend for the year with them at the dunes in Beverly, WA. Such a great time and such wonderful people we were with! Ended up with a day in the 90's and a Husky win over USC what a way to end the camping season.

Peggy soaking up some puppy love.

What we do to NOT miss a Husky Game. Only took 2 hours to find a Satelite Signal!
Thank Goodness we did, couldn't have missed that Husky win over USC again!

Pretty Sunset

Kelly

Fall is Here

2010-09-14T09:46:00.000-07:00

With the cooler temperatures and rain comes back to school, soccer practice, soccer games, tailgating at home Husky games, Everett Youth Symphony rehearsals, trombone lessons, and an end to camping.
Kelly and Peggy both are in their last year at their respective schools. Kelly is in the 8th grade this year and Peggy in the 5th.

(I really dislike flash but at 6:30 in the morning on a gloomy, rainy morning doesn't give me many options.)

Peggy's soccer is back into full swing! With some girls moving on to select teams and others looking at different activities, our team joined with another to form one large team. They chose the name "Wolverines" at our annual pre-season BBQ. (Kelly seems to think they named themselves after his latest facial feature.) They are playing more girls on the field and a bigger field this year. Sunday was Peggy's first game and for the first time ever, scored a goal. As a defender, she is usually in the backfield defending the goal. While defending, she got the ball and saw an opportunity to take it all the way and that she did, being challenged, she stayed focused and ended up scoring.

Go Peggy Go

Husky Football is well underway. The first away game happened while we were out camping at a campground with electricity and an open view of the southern sky which means we were able to watch via satellite and a 13 inch TV. The way that Chris and his Dad were bundled up, you would think they were watching a November game. A few people from other campsites would stop by to check the action. Unfortunately, the Huskies lost to BYU.

Go Huskies Go

Our first home Husky game found us tailgating with the Arnold's and other friends and also a Win for Coach Sark and the Huskies! The coach wants to win all home games this year...that would be awesome!

Kelly had his auditions for Everett Youth Symphony Orchestra yesterday. He is in the Junior Orchestra this fall and Fall concert but will be playing up in the Youth Orchestra for the Winter concert. He plans to audition for All State Junior Band again this year and is already practicing (audition tapes go in pretty soon). Jazz Band starts up next week so we will be getting him to school by 6:30am every Wed, Thurs, Friday. He is very excited about his music.

We are almost done camping. We have an outing planned for the end of the month to our favorite place (Newhalem) and have invited some friends. I have a very suspicious feeling that our friends won't make it, so it will be just us. Then we have one more the 1st weekend in October where we were invited by some other friends to go quading with them again. That should be a lot of fun! Then it will be time to park the good ole trailer under the new carport for the winter.

Looking forward to a great fall!

Gotta Wear Shades

2010-08-17T09:06:00.000-07:00

The I heart faces challenge this week is "gotta wear shades". Well at the car show this weekend I just happened to take a couple of photos of reflections in shades. So today, I bring you....

That's Chris' Chevy that made it to and from the car show (and now won't start) and me.

Enjoy...

Holy Cow--it's the end of July already!!

2010-08-01T16:23:00.000-07:00

Boy does time fly when you are busy and having fun! Life has been full and good since I last posted! We have started the camping season, both kids are finally out of school (their first full week off included July 1st!), Kelly is in Jazz camp, and Peggy is counting the days until she heads to Horse camp through the YMCA.

We have been out camping with the Grounds Grandparents and Aunt Jami twice. Camping at a new place for us, Wenatchee Confluence State Park, and an old favorite, Salmon La Sac (lucky for us, it was a DRY camping trip this time compared to last year). Chris and I and the kids spent a weekend at Fort Eby with Marley. Family time is important and we cherish the time we spend together.

Dad and Son

Decorating 4th of July Shirts

Poppa had a fun time.

Cool USA birthday shirts, individually designed and decorated.

I've been busy with photo shoots--(the school carnival, the 8th grade graduation dance, a couple of very sweet little girls and a beautiful family) and learning more about photography. Getting excited about a wedding reception of some friends that I am going to shoot.

My brother Tim and his wife, Maureen, trailered his motorcycles from WI to BC for a rally and then did a swing into WA to visit family. Chris and I hosted the family at our house for an afternoon BBQ and a chance for Tim and Maureen to meet the next generation of cousins. It was a beautiful day and we had tons of fun. We were missing a few of the cousins. Missing were Christine's daughter Bridget and her husband who live in Hawaii; Bert's wife Nuria and oldest daughter Sofia (8) attending a family wedding in Mexico; Cathy's oldest, Todd and his family who live in Colorado: and Teresa's oldest, Audrey (13) who went rafting with friends.

L>R: Tim, Joey, Gary (Christine's Hubby), Christine, and Maureen with her back to me.

Bert (Christine's Son) and his littliest, Grace

Geoff (Cathy's youngest) got soaked by his son, Riley

Riley, Son of Geoff, and Cathy's grandson

Riley (Geoff's son) and Emelia (Bert's middle daughter) enjoy some bubbles.

Teresa, Christine, Shane, Chris, and Bert

Chris and I

Maureen, Gracie, Grandma Anne, Christine, and Emilia

Shane and my Peggy (10)

Maureen, Cathy, and Tim

Shane (Cathy's Son-In-Law, Teresa's hubby), My Chris, and Bert

Madelin (9 on 8/4), Teresa's and Shane's youngest

The BBQ was a great success, yummy food, great weather, and a wonderful time cathcing up with everyone!!

Edited: It is now Aug 1st and we have had another family gathering, this time with Chris' Dad's sister and her husband. Pictures have not been uploaded to the computer yet but when they do, I will post. We had a very nice visit with Aunt Marsha and Uncle Joel. Jami and my mom came over too. Although the weather wasn't that wonderful, we still enjoyed visiting in our backyard and eating outside at a table set for 10. Mike and Linda came over for Kelly's final jazz camp concert, staying with us in the "hotel Salem, penthouse suite". Chris got Mike busy on the carport (which is just about finished except for some ridge cap and the siding that is going on the end rafter) and some work on the Chevy. After a couple of "shocking incidences" Mike had wired the security lights to the carport. He's movin' a bit slow today but he still had it in him to go to Jami's for a couple of projects for her.

Yesterday, Chris and I celebrated 17 years of marriage by having family over and watching the Seafair Torchlight Parade. Maybe we will get to have a date, just the two of us soon.

Kelly heads to Spokane with Mike and Linda tomorrow for a 10 day stay and then we switch kids and Peggy is with them for a week. I think we are in for some quiet (no siblings fighting) days ahead. I know they will enjoy being apart, but I think they will miss each other too.

Enough with the Camera Already

2010-04-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

I've been taking LOTS of pictures and trying to capture "us" in the pictures. I got the "Enough with the camera already, Mom! (add a slight bit of early teen attitude) Why are you taking so many pictures?"
Well, my dear son, it is because of this : A Week In The Life.

I have decided to play along with my cyber scrapbooking friends and am committing myself to doing this. It is capturing a typical week in our life, focusing on everyday things that make our life. Something that to us right now seems mundane and boring, but years from now, it will be fun to see what we did, who we were, where did we go, when we did things, and why we did them.

I've got two cameras going and even given Chris and Kelly their own photo assignments (haven't seen if they followed through yet). I'm taking a little point in shoot in my purse to capture places that I go and I've got the 50D out and ready to go while I'm at home. I am evening using a self timer to get into the shots. So I will leave you with some photos to show you what we have been up to.

Peggy's Lunch Mowing the Lawn (Kelly's job)

Lots of Make Up Homework

Yes it really was 70 on Monday

On the way to Everett Youth Symphony

On Way to school Tues Morning

It's what's for dinner

Checking blogs and emails--seeing other's take on this project:

That's it for now! Watch for the completed project in May!

Homework Assignment

2010-04-19T08:19:00.000-07:00

Kelly's Homework:

Why do I do this to myself?

2010-03-23T21:15:00.000-07:00

Two 2 hour trips to one of the local middle schools for two Solo/Ensemble performances (a solo and a duet) while trying to get ready for a birthday party, 3+ hours decorating cupcakes, 10 no sew fringed pillow patterns completed, 6 individual pizzas cut, rolled out, and shaped (thank goodness for frozen pizza dough), and a house cleaned.

Why do I do this? Because of these two!

Not to mention my love of music and crafting!

I Love you Kelly and Peggy!!

Double Digits

2010-03-23T20:50:00.000-07:00

Peggy was so excited to turn 10 that she set her alarm clock to go off at 2:47am on 3/10/10, the time at which she was born. I heard it, she didn't and I don't think anyone else in the house did.
She was given her first birthday wish as her daddy kissed her goodbye when he left for work at 5:15 am. He also left her a Happy Birthday wish on the dry erase board on the fridge.

Birthday brownies frosted with pink frosting were made and taken to school. Dinner was her choice at Red Robin with grandma, daddy, mommy, and Kelly. She received a DSi from all of us for her present (Daddy doesn't like it-doesn't think she needs it). She has only put it down to sleep and eat! We will be setting time limits by tomorrow. A birthday party with friends will be happening next weekend and a belated celebration with Grandma Linda, Poppa Mike, and aunt Jami will happen when they get back from St. Thomas.

It's a wonderful life...

2010-03-08T15:08:00.000-08:00

I have to say it truely is a wonderful life. I have to count my blessings. I've got a wonderful hubby, 2 great kids, a home, a job, and some great hobbies.

Spring is on its way. Beautiful and sunny today (some places nearby it's snowing). Looking out my back window I see lots of flowers in bloom (shutting my eyes to the junk around the yard) and more coming up through the dirt, no wait, oops those are weeds. Sunshine just makes me more energetic.

Busy planning a 10 yr old girl's birthday party--"It's a Sleepover *Almost". Giggley girls will be going home around 10 pm I hope.

Homemade invites

A friend had a baby girl that I get to take newborn photos of so I have made some cute little photo props (and a little something else that I can't share here-she might see it)

Music concerts are in full swing between All State Band, Everett Youth Symphony Orchestra, Middle School Band, and Jazz Band! Don't let me mention all the practices we go to ;o). But I wouldn't have it any other way!

There's been a bout of "New" around here: New Family Desktop (built by my nephew, Geoff), a new kitchen table and chairs (thanks to Pottery Barn's Clearance), and a New iPod Touch-wish it were mine, but no, Kelly "traded in" his old Nano and bought it with his own money. Did you know that you can go on facebook, check emails, and text for free from the Touch? I can't get it out of his hands, but now I haven't heard him ask for a cell phone in the last week or so.

One last thing...I've been banned from the Mall by Chris. It's all Kelly's fault that I went into Pottery Barn when we went to the Apple Store to have his Nano looked at. If I'm banned from the Mall, I won't spend anymore money he thinks........

Cheerio....off to deliver birthday cupcakes to campfire!

Great Times

2010-02-07T20:32:00.000-08:00

Next time you see my kids or the Kistler kids, ask them about their trip to the "Zoo". Nothing like keeping secrets from your kids, especially one this BIG! A teacher's workday ended up being a play weekend for us and our friends, the Kistler's. I was able to plan an overnight stay at the Great Wolf Lodge and keep it a secret from the kids. What a fun time and great place. The boys hung out together and did the "teenage" stuff, the girls were able to do girlie things, and the moms let's say we did enjoy an adult beverage and seeing our kids having a great time.

Would love to visit again.

Who Wears the Shoes in This Family

2010-01-13T09:32:00.000-08:00

Who wears the ~~pants~~ shoes in this family? I have to admit that I am now a mother of a teenage son with size 13 (yes, that would be a men's size 13) foot! His feet look like skis and his toes are a second set of fingers I swear.

Kelly is a size 13 at 13! I cannot believe that 1) I'm a mother of a teenager (where did time fly?) and 2) that said teenager is almost as tall as his 6ft dad.

Where did the time go? It was just a couple of years ago that he was born during a snow storm and placed into a stocking for his first picture, wasn't it?

Kelly just hours old.

And a cute 2 y/o in Hawaii

Ohhhh that picture should have given us a

clue on how big his feet were going to be.

And a kid who slept with a build-a-bear

Husky dog and had shelves of toys?

This boy now is a young man in the 7th grade. This boy makes his mom and dad (and the rest of his family) very proud. He is a great friend. He is a good student. He is a talented musician. He is creative inventor. He is a good brother (the majority of the time when he isn't teasing or bugging his sister). He is a wonderful son. And he is 13 and on his way to becoming one great man.

Happy Belated Birthday my dear Kelly. I love you.

---Mom

Holiday Greetings

2009-12-20T23:28:00.000-08:00

I guess I should have an update, since I have invited you all to visit our blog. Um...you could say I am a bit behind on the updates-I guess that I didn't meet that goal this month. A disclaimer before I start...There will be not be a lot of pictures in this post since I am on the family desktop. I found out tonight why my laptop would not start up for the last couple of days...the Hard Drive is gone!

The year wrapped up (yes, the pun was intended):

We started the year off with constuction around the house, a new cover for our back steps and little BBQ patio, new carpet, paint and rearrangement of furniture in the family room, and a remodel of our main bathroom (the only one with a place to shower/bathe).

Peggy and I traveled to Portland for the weekend of her birthday to see Wicked and spend a little time at the Creating Keepsakes Scrapbooking Convention. What a great production/show (Wicked that is)! Everyone should see it at least once.

Started camping in March and have to say this wouldn't have happened if we still had the tent trailer. Our trailer is a nice place to come get out of the weather and get warm. We went Razor Clam digging for the first time and liked it so much that we did it again in April.

Didn't do as much camping this summer as we normally do because we tackled cleaning and organizing Chris' garage. But we did get some long Holiday weekends with Mike and Linda (Chris' dad and mom), and a couple of outings with friends.

We ended the summer with a flood in the family room. The toilet in the powder room downstair decided to blow the intake supply off which sprayed all night until Chris got up in the morning to find about 2-3 inches of water saturating our new carpet and getting our things all wet. Took about a month to get things back together but now we have our family room back!

Husky games filled our Saturdays (along with Peggy's soccer games) this fall.

Kelly is in the 7th grade this year, taking all challenge classes (except PE and band). Didn't quite make it into Algebra but is still in challenge math class. He is in Jazz Band before school 3 days a week and also is in the Everett Youth Symphony's Jr. Orchestra where he is the Principal Trombone. (Visit the Website http://www.eyso.info/ on March 9 to view his "Winter" Concert via web-cast).

The Washington State Music Educators Association hold auditions for an "All-State Jr. Band" in the fall. This year they invited 7th graders to audition and Kelly's band teacher had him record an audition and sent it in. Kelly along with two 8th graders made the All State Band. His band teacher received the music for the students this week and had to call me. He left a message on our phone saying that he was speechless as Kelly was given 1st Trombone music. He is honored to have Kelly play in his band and to represent Evergreen. (He even emailed all of Kelly's teachers to let them know.) We will be spending our Valentine's Weekend in Yakima, WA. Kelly will be practicing all day on Saturday with a Concert in the evening.

Peggy is in the 4th grade this year and is also doing well academically too. She was on a soccer team this fall and they did really well. She plays defender and does a great job defending the goal! She also is in Campfire where they assisted a younger group for a food drive before Thanksgiving. They also provided toys for Christmas to an agency that assists families in need.

Peggy will be starting keyboarding in Jan and hopefully she will love it as much as Kelly does his trombone. She loves to sing and we will hear her singing in the shower.

Chris is still working for McKinstry as a foreman. They are grooming him to run his own jobs in the near future I think. We are lucky that he still has a job as the economy knocked out a bunch of work that his company had lined up. Things are picking back up. He is currently working on an Amazon.com building in downtown Seattle.

I am working for Providence Children's Center since Feb. I really like my job. I clock in and clock out and do all my work at the office. I really like my boss, the clinicians, the educators, the nurses and the support staff. They all have been very supportive.

We will be spending Christmas in Spokane this year and come home on Kelly's 13th birthday! I can't believe that my little snow storm baby is already 13! All I can say is WOW.

That about wraps up 2009. Thanks for visiting and please let me know you were here!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Ann, Chris, Kelly, and Peggy

I'm Behind Already

2009-12-02T21:45:00.000-08:00

Wow, December 2! I haven't even retrieved our advent calendar from our holiday storage area yet. I guess I get to put 3 stars up when I get it out tomorrow. I will have the kids draw toothpicks to see who gets the even days and who gets the odd days, I'm sure there will be a fight over it even doing it this way.

I've set some goals for myself for this month thanks to a blogging friend of mine. Writing them down and getting them out for everyone to see will hopefully keep me on track. Mind you, she challenged us last month and my goal for last month was to get the house ready for guests (hi Linda and Mike) for Thanksgiving. I broke it up into 5 goals. I had initially wanted to declutter many spaces but as the time grew closer, that didn't happen. So, I have "extended" a goal for this month. Here they are:

1) Start in on my paperwork clutter (actually complete Aby's Organize Your Paper Clutter class).This is kind of an extension of last month's goal of a clean entry/laundry room.

2) Have all Christmas shopping completed and wrapped by December 20 (that includes being Santa's helper with stocking stuffers).

3) Have tree and Christmas decorations up by December 12 (in time for soccer party).

4) Spend (2) 15 minute blocks of time a day picking up the house and getting the rest of the family to do so too (am and pm).

5) Complete some kind of Daily/Weekly December/Holidays in Hand project.

That's it folks...I'll update once a week to let you know how I am doing.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-29T22:16:00.000-08:00

So, I'm a little late, but I have much to be thankful for.
A clean house. A houseful of family and friends for Thanksgiving Dinner. Family members that shared the cooking and prep. A chance to use my "prettys". My husband. My children. My Family. My Wisconsin Family. My In-Laws. The fact that I have place settings and seating for twelve. And the list can go on, but I'll spare you.

I made a little project that I got here.

Everyone was given a card to fill out what they are thankful for and I will pair it with a picture of them that I took that day and put it in a little 4 x 6 album.

Miss Peggy and I created place cards for everyone using her artwork that I scanned and then I had her print everyone's names.

The dog even got to have a place card!

The turkey turned out wonderful and all the food was delicious.

Turkey

Stuffing

Turkey Gravy

Mashed Potatoes

Candied Yams

"Debbled" Eggs

Cranberry Relish

Canberry Jello Fruit Cups

Jellied Cranberry Sauce

Fruit Salad

Cremecicle Salad

Home Canned Garlic Pickles

Black Olives

Rolls with Butter

Dessert:

Pumpkin Pie with Whipped Cream

Peggy Friendly Pumpkin Custard Cake

In all it was a wonderful day with wonderful family and friends. I only wish all our family could be there, but it is way too big now.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and know that I was thinking of all of you on this day.

Another Adventure.....

2009-11-18T22:12:00.000-08:00

Okay, you are thinking, what is she up to again? Doesn’t she have enough things to do? Well, I am going to tell you. Capturing memories and moments of life with photographs and words is pretty important to me. That’s why I scrapbook (when I have the time). I want Kelly and Peggy to have documentation about their lives growing up for them to share with their kids someday or to jog their memory about a funny story or some fashion statement that they had. To “scrapbook” I need to have a chunk of time to put together some pictures and a story with some pretty papers and embellishments. This usually takes awhile because I have a difficult time choosing “just” the right papers to go with the story and the photos and then to decide how to put it all together to make it look pleasing to the eye and inviting to read and look at. This is where my new adventure comes into play.
I committed myself to taking an online class called “Blogging for Scrapbookers” (Hello fellow classmates that found your way here!). Yep, I know that I have been blogging for about a year-but not consistently. I have done a pretty good job pairing stories with photos that I have taken and I have even taken these stories and photos and made scrapbook pages out of them. This class is about how blogging and scrapping go hand in hand. During the course of this class I will be given prompts to “blog about”. So let me start with the first prompt.
Prompt 1: Paving our way to new pastures. What are your goals and intentions of taking this class?
I decided to take this class to help me blog better. During this class I hope to find a “blogging” groove, more consistent posting. I want to use my blog as a “memory keeper” of sorts-so while the memories and stories are still fresh, I want to try to get them down to scrap later. I want to be able to “find” or refine my writing voice, become a better writer and story teller. What else? I want family and friends to enjoy coming to my blog to see what is happening in our life. I may not blog every day, but I hope to at least twice a week. There, I have put it out there for the world to see. My goals for this latest adventure.
Feel free to leave a comment so that I will know someone is reading.

-Ann

Making History...

2009-11-05T08:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning the phone rang around 8:30. It was a number that I did not recognize but I answered it anyway. It was Kelly's band teacher, Mr. G. "Are you sitting down?", he asked. "Umm, yes." I said. He continued, "You have one of the best trombone players in the state of Washington! Kelly made it into the Junior All State Band as a 7th grader!" "Wow, what an honor." I replied.

Yep, our 12 year old, 7th grader sent in an audition tape (one of 1004 7th and 8th grade musicians to do so) for the Washington Music Educators Association's Junior All Sate Band and was accepted. This was the first year that the WMEA allowed 7th grade students to try out. Kelly was the only 7th grader that his teacher suggested to try out.

Kelly's first words to me when I got home from work yesterday were, "I made history today. I am the very first 7th grader from Evergreen to try out and make it into the Junior All State Band." The principal of his school, Dr. Stewart, came into his band class and congratulated him in front of his classmates.

In addition to Kelly, two 8th graders also were accepted into the Junior All State Band. They get to go to Yakima, Wa for a Saturday all day rehearsal follwed by a concert during President's Day Mid-Winter Break. This is the WMEA's conference weekend. So we have our rooms booked and are ready to spend the weekend in Yakima.

Go Kelly-We are so proud of you!

Jazz camp July 09

Lucky Girl

2009-11-02T08:15:00.000-08:00

Okay, all in the same week, I was the 1000th upload in the LOAD challenge I was taking, my named got selected over at the Write, Click, Scrapbook blog to win that week's prize package, and I received a note requesting a recent photo of me, and 3 of my favorite layouts or photos I love for the Featured Student of the Month at BigPictureScrapbooking.com. Not having any decent recent photos of just me, I decided to partake in a self-portrait photo shoot using a mirror. Well, it truly isn't as easy as it looks on other peoples blogs, websites, etc....I created a digital layout about it.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T21:13:00.001-07:00

Oct 31 LOAD 09, originally uploaded by scrapperann.

3 hours in line, 20 minutes trying to convince Peggy to get the shot, physically man handling her, late for soccer game in the rain, and trick or treating in the rain.

My last lay out for Oct LOAD '09.

Whew! I made 31 layouts in 31 days!!! Yeah for me.

Go Speed Racer Go

2009-10-29T06:26:00.001-07:00

Oct 28 LOAD '09, originally uploaded by scrapperann.

Okay, so the pics aren't that great (taken by Daryl's Storm-thx Daryl). Chris had a blast on his weekend adventure in Karting. He did a buddy drive on Saturday and then was able to actually race Daryl's 250 cc (I'm getting info from Kelly as I type this) on Sunday. However, after a couple of cars spun out in turn one where in turn Chris spun out and killed it, therefore not able to finish the race. Oh well, there is next year.

Oct-24-LOAD-web

2009-10-24T21:15:00.001-07:00

Oct-24-LOAD-web, originally uploaded by scrapperann.

Still having LOADS of fun! Today's prompt was Halloween Past. Kelly didn't go Trick or Treating but I was able to talk him into putting this on to go to Mrs. O'Donnell's house.

Chris is "Big Boy" Go-Karting this weekend in Bremerton with his buddy Daryl. This would be race-karting. Sitting about 7 inches off the ground and flying around a track at 60 mph or more.

I'm home with the kids. Skipped the horrible Husky game and went to Peggy's soccer game instead. She played awesome today! Running her little heart out after that ball. Her team did very well! After the game we came home and started to get the house back in order. We are slowly making progress. Hopefully we will get it all done before Chris gets home tomorrow.

Click on the picture and it will take you to my photostream at Flickr and you can see all the layouts that I have completed this month. They have all been digital.

Oct-14-LOAD 09

2009-10-14T20:49:00.001-07:00

Oct-14-LOAD 09, originally uploaded by scrapperann.

Almost halfway through the challenge and I haven't missed a day yet! I was the 1000th post and won a prize with my Oct 12 layout! Having lots of fun exploring digital scrapbooking but I am not going to give up the paper scrapbooking.

Beside scrappin' going on at our house, the carpet has been put back down and was steamed cleaned today. I am trying to get our furniture back that was taken by the drier-outer people. As I mentioned before, Chris and I have some tile to lay and I have a trip to IKEA to make (we are going to get a new computer desk-I picked out the EXPEDIT 2x4 with desk attachment). Kelly wants to come along for the Swedish Meatballs-you can tell he is almost a teenager because his mind is always thinking about his next meal!

Kelly scared off our contractor who was going to come today and finish the trim on the stairs. When he found out that Kelly was home sick with a fever today, he emailed me and asked if he could postpone. He is going to be spending the weekend with his elderly father who is frail and doesn't want to take the chance to get him sick. I had to laugh a little to myself and I don't blame him.

We had the BIG H1-N1 talk at work today. Absolutely no employee with a fever accompanied by sore throat, upper respiratory involvement (ie cough, congestion), aches and pains, and fatigue is NOT to come to work at all! Let's hope Kelly keeps this stuff to himself!

Going to leave you with that. Have a great weekend.
-Ann and Kelly bye

Oct. 13 LOAD '09

2009-10-13T20:58:00.001-07:00

Oct. 13 LOAD '09, originally uploaded by scrapperann.

A page about mom and her friend, Dee Dee. This was one of the best things for mom this summer. She and Dee Dee had a great time!

Flooding Update

2009-10-11T20:41:00.000-07:00

Thought I should put in an update regarding our family room situation. We hired our "Bathroom" guy to come and fix us up. His "workers" (as Peggy calls them) came out and removed all of the old firring strips and tar paper. Then they sealed the cement floor, put down a new layer of "felt" and put in new firring strips 16" on center. Then they put in hard foam insulation strips (Kelly thought they were using space ship materials) and put down 3/4" plywood floor. We had them adjust the stairs to the family room by cutting out a portion that infringed on the entrance to the bathroom. Our contractor guy (Norm) came a few days last week to patch up the drywall where they did some cutouts to make sure things weren't wet.

Chris got the painting done today. We are expecting the carpet guy tomorrow after work to lay down the new pad and the "old" carpet. Once that gets down, we will have it cleaned as it has been rolled up and sitting in the garage for about 3 weeks (since it was dried out). I keep hemming and hawing between tile and vinyl flooring in the bathroom. We have have vinyl left over from the laundry area and tile from our bathroom. I want to keep this little bathroom our '57 chevy theme. We had black and white flooring in there originally. I went ahead today and spent $$ on some black and white tile

1 foot square pieces of smaller pieces pieced together. It will be very retro when it is done. Chris is going to install it. Should be fairly easy to do since everything is out of the bathroom right now. He stills needs to throw a coat of paint on the bathroom walls.

Once the carpet is clean, we will reclaim our furniture (I hope). I have not heard anything from the company that removed it to "dry it/store it" or what ever they were doing with it when they took it out our home. Or the insurance company for that matter (only the "structual" damage-that we had to fight for). I am going to go through and inventory the stuff that is still here (brand new reams of paper, picture frames, things that were stored in cardboard boxes that didn't make it and get it to the insurance company. Hopefully they will make good on it.

I kind of wished our funiture was ruined-I would love to update our couch and love seat. Oh well.

Can you believe that we have actually been without TV since Sept. 3??? Okay, Chris did bring in lawn chairs and hooked the TV up for a Husky Game and a Seahawks game the next day. But other than catching the ND vs UW game at mom's we have not had TV. Oh, and the Wii works on a 13" TV. Mario Kart racing has been keeping the kids and Chris entertained. I did have Chris and Kelly watch NCIS on the computer with me a couple of times. We look kind of funny all gathered around a laptop!

Instead of TV, I've been scrapping! (and getting in trouble for ignoring my family) I am participating in a Lay Out A Day (LOAD) challenge. I have completed 11 days straight of Digital layouts-because they are a lot easier to upload, you have seen some of them here on this blog.

Well, I'm rambling....Bye...hope to have a family room in a week or so!

Oct 9 LOAD '09

2009-10-09T20:03:00.001-07:00

Oct 9 LOAD '09, originally uploaded by scrapperann.

Since I have been ignoring my hubby and family while doing this LOAD thing, I thought that I should scrap something that belongs to him.

Oct-8-Load 09

2009-10-08T22:29:00.001-07:00

Oct-8-Load 09, originally uploaded by scrapperann.

Keeping up with the LOADSTERS!!! Click on scrapperann to see all my LOAD layouts.

Oct 5 LOAD '09

2009-10-05T19:37:00.001-07:00

Oct 5 LOAD '09, originally uploaded by scrapperann.

I'm on a roll! This is how we treat our guests to Husky Staduim. Day 5 and 5 layouts!

Day 4 Oct LOAD 09

2009-10-04T20:42:00.001-07:00

Day 4 Oct LOAD 09, originally uploaded by scrapperann.

Day 4- I'm still on track for the Layout A Day challenge...This was a photo I took of Peggy when we celebrated her birthday with a couple of her friends. We went to the Comcast Arena and saw the Lippenzannar (sp) Stallions and had lunch at Subway. This shot was taken in an alley off Hewett in downtown Everett. I took pictures of her friends too and gave copies to their parents. Having fun with Oct LOAD '09!

Oct LOAD Day 1

2009-10-01T11:58:00.001-07:00

Oct LOAD Day 1, originally uploaded by scrapperann.

I did it. I am challenging myself to create a Layout A Day during the month of October. Thought I would start with this one.

Go DAWGS!!!!

2009-09-27T20:04:00.001-07:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

Daddy and Peggy on the helmet for a TOUCHDOWN against USC!

When it Rains it Pours....

2009-09-27T18:49:00.000-07:00

And no, I am not talking about the Mortin Salt Girl. I'm telling ya that everything that can go wrong will go wrong. Murphy's Law I think.

Okay, you heard about our flood on 9/3/09. While it was drying out we went camping to Salmon La Sac with Mike, Linda (Chris' folks), and his sister Jami. Well, we just about got flooded out there too. It rained all weekend, with maybe a few times that it stopped long enough to go and see the swimming hole. For those of you familiar with Pemco Ins.' Blue Tarp Camper, well, we were the gray tarp, blue tarp, and EZ up campers! Chris dug trenches around the campsite to keep the water flowing and not puddling at our feet or putting out the campfire. It was a wet weekend but a fun one. Oh, and we had visitors to our campsite. Check out the photos.

We came home to a basement that was still drying out. The kids' first day of school was Wednesday, the 9th of Sept. Managed to get a picture of Peggy on the first day, but no luck on the 7th grader, but at least he wasn't wearing stripes with plaid. Both kids are still loving school, well, kind of. Kelly's challenge block teacher likes to give a lot of homework-even on the weekends.

The flooded family room and powder room have finally dried out. Everything got ripped out that was on the floor but the carpet was saved. All our big furniture is at the facility that did the dry out. The insurance adjuster came and gave us an estimate for the "restoration" that both Chris and I shook our heads at thinking, there is no possible way that we would be able to put things back to what they were with that estimate. The drier outer company can not do the "restoration" because they did the "mitigation". So we had a few estimates completed and decided to have our contractor that remodel our bathroom do the work. They should start on the family room Tues or Wed. Hopefully it will be done by the weekend. Oh, the adjuster has sent us another check to cover the difference between his and Norm's bid.

Chris and Peggy were the lucky ones who got to go to the USC game. We had won a "Husky Band Experience" at a silent auction for the Husky Band so all of us had planned to go. However,
Kelly decided that he wanted to have an appendectomy instead of going to the game. (Okay, he didn't plan being sick or having surgery for that matter).

He is doing well. He had the surgery on Sat, Daddy spent the night, and he came home Sunday afternoon. I kept him home from school and Monday and Tues just so that he could have a little bit of low time to recover. I did contact his teachers for homework though. He can't carry more than 15 lbs and that is just about how much is backpack weighs! I thinned it out by taking out about 5 lbs of notebook paper that was in his binder. For goodness sakes, he isn't going to go through no more that 10 sheets per class. He will follow up with the surgeon this week. He has three holes on his belly that are still covered with the hospital dressing. I think he is afraid that they will hurt when they come off. Oh, and he noticed that they shaved his belly to do the surgery.

I broke my foot (one of the cuboid bones) right after the Labor Day weekend. The plastic that the drier out guys put up to "maintain" the humidity in the family room had come undone and was be sucked into their machine. I started down our little stairs in my socks and slipped. I fell on my butt and was just thankful that I didn't throw my knee out again. I went to work but came home early after seeing the Employee health ARPN and having x-rays. It was hurting so bad by lunch time that I went to Employee Health to have it looked at. I was off my foot for the next 5 days and was able to go back to work with a fancy little boot on my foot. Then about a week later from the initial fall, I had a stiff neck that had pain radiating into my upper arm. Well, after seeing the walk in clinic, a chiropractor, and a massage therapist, they all agree that I probably have whip lash from my fall and the swelling is causing the pinched nerve. It hurts. So I have been off work this last week. I am feeling better, but the pain still comes and goes, but very much better than it was initially. I go to the doctor tomorrow and hopefully can be released back to work. So these last 2 weeks have not been the most productive on my end.

Chris decided to hook up the big TV and Directv receiver in the naked family room so that he could watch the Husky game this weekend. (I think he was having TV withdrawals-since we haven't had a TV since the flood on the 3rd.) He also drug in our camping chairs and set them up in front of the TV. Well, the game wasn't worth watching because the Huskies lost, but there is next week. The Huskies play Notre Dame next weekend there. I know some relatives will be there but they will be rooting for the wrong team.

Go DAWGS, and lets hope all these "sicky" Grounds get back to 100%.

It's 5:30 AM What have you done today?

2009-09-03T05:42:00.000-07:00

Got up at 4:30 to the sound of my name being called by Chris in his "I'm gonna get sick, and you'd better come now!" voice only to find him sloshing through 2-3 inches of water in our family room. Yep, you know the one, it got new carpeting/padding, and a new paint job this last February!

Apparently our plumbing decided to fail us. The hose that supplies water to the toilet in our little bathroom decided to break at the connection to the toilet. Chris heard a noise when he got up for work and thought maybe something got stuck in the fan. Nope, sound wasn't the fan. Water was spraying out of the bathroom into the family room and there was 2-3 inches of standing water everywhere! He shut off the water and then "umm, what do we do?" Panic set in and we started to clean up and then realized there is nothing that we can really do but call the insurance company.

I've dug through paperwork with no luck looking for the insurance paperwork-that's what happens for being a dropout of an excellent online Paper Organizing class taught by my favorite Organizer, Ms. Aby Garvey. She's not to blame, I go all gung ho and then just came to a stand still after about the 2nd week. Anyway, I digress.

Resourceful me went online and found the number for our insurance claim service. I called where a nice "Barbara" cheerfully located our policy information and started our claim process. Which was then handed over to the adjuster at the Columbus Regional Office-where are the local peeps. Hello? I live in Washington State.

Received a call from the "Pros" for clean up and they will be here in a couple of hours. We have removed some of the removable stuff so that it wouldn't get damaged further. So now we wait. Wait for the "Extraction" team.

So what's a girl to do, but post her "experience" to share with everyone else. Have a great day-Mine can only get better!

School is Just Around the Corner

2009-08-29T19:24:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how quickly August has flown by. 2 more days and then we are into Sept. and the start of school. The district and the teachers have reached a tentative agreement and school is set to begin on Sept. 9. There is definitely a Fall chill in the air, especially in the evenings and with these cooler evenings, the foliage is changing color FAST.

Soccer has been going full blast this last month and Kelly is getting ready to audition for the Everett Youth Symphony Orchestra. He has his school schedule and will be getting some exercise going upstairs/downstairs/upstairs/downstairs for classes the first half of his day and then ends his day with his challenge block classes. We hear that his block teacher likes to give out a lot of homework so he is going to have to really learn how to manage his time better.

Heading out for our last planned/reserved camping trip Labor Day Weekend to Salmon La Sac-one of our very favorite places to camp. Meeting up with Chris' folks and his sister too for the weekend. However, the weather doesn't look all that promising as some showers are predicted. We will keep our fingers crossed.

Spent a weekend camping with one of Chris' friends and his fiance's family at a group site not too far from here. It was fun. The kids had fun playing in the river-even the "big boys".

I'll leave you with some recent photos:

Grace Bone-Regan

4.5 mos old

Camping With the Grounds

2009-08-04T19:51:00.001-07:00

Newhalem Creek Campground
2009

The Wirts (Brian, Kim, and Griffin) and the Millers (Amy and Jessica-Jackson was with his dad) joined us for a summer campout. We also invited Kylee (a friend of the family) to come along too.

We all had a blast! It was boys vs girls in a scavenger hunt-I need to remember to be more specific in the rules and directions the next time. Some cooling off action up at the creek...

Tug 'o War with Griffin. Peggy taking a dip with Kylee watching.

The Chef In The Woods (Chris) had some great sou chefs, Brian, Kim, and Kelly to help him with his gourmet meals. Amy brought some yummy fish that he cooked up along with chicken for dinner on Sat night. Anniversary roses (thanks Mary and Mike) adorned the dining table. The kids all pitched in to help set and clear the table.

Then there were the games...Jessica introduced us to a new one where we had to guess what we were by asking yes/no questions...This was funny and hard!

Then there was Kim's "snake bite". Read inch worm touching skin of foot. Oh and if you see Kim, ask her about walking in the dark.

All this excitement lead to one pooped pooch!

Stay tuned for more Grounds' Scraps of Life!

Summer's Slippin' By....

2009-08-03T18:29:00.000-07:00

Summer is flying by. I can't believe it is August already!
What a hot and sunny summer we have had.
Take 1 dad, 2 kids, 2 tarps, 1 sprinkler, and some dish soap
and you have the perfect way to cool down
when it is 100 degrees out!
Came home from work the other day to see this!
Took a few pictures and then I joined in the fun!

Been camping with some friends lately and had a great
time. Had a scavenger hunt, did some "hiking", and
cooled down in Newhalem Creek. It was fun.

August brings the count down to "back to school".
Peggy's soccer practices have started back up 2 days a week.
She has her first soccer tournament to play in (no score kept-
just play for fun) and a soccer camp to attend. She also will be going
to a Horse Day Camp at Langs Pony Farm through the YMCA for
a week, with a one night stay at the farm she is so excited.

Kelly is all done with his Jazz Band Camp and did great!
He stood up in front of an audience at two different concerts
and played a solo. We then got to see him lead all the brass
during a brass "showcase" while still playing his trombone.
We are very proud of him and I think he is proud of himself too.

Kelly has orientation in the middle of the month to get his
classes/teachers, his locker assignment, and his school pictures
for his ASB card. This is where he gets to practice opening
his locker and going to his classes. Poor kid has been having
nightmares that he cannot find his classrooms and ends
up in his old school building.

We will update again soon.

To The Market, To The Market, a Jiggity Jig!

2009-07-24T20:11:00.000-07:00

I do believe that summer is flying by! Been awhile since I blogged, sorry about that. I was told by a 12 yr old that I had better update my blog, so here I am.

I have designated Mondays this summer as "Fun Day Monday". This last Fun Day Kelly, Peggy and I went to Pike Place Market 1) to pick up some Market Spice Tea 2) to get some teeny tiny champange grapes (like we had at our wedding) and 3) to get an inexpensive but gorgeous bouquet of flowers and a small bunch of sweet peas.

We also got to see some flying fish (I caught one on camera-but not a good shot), play with live crayfish, and tease Peggy. It was a fun day.

Stay tuned for more on Fun Day Monday and our other summer adventures.

A BIG Project

2009-06-07T09:07:00.000-07:00

Yep, again tackling a big project on the homefront. The Garage! Chris (and me too) is tired of tripping over everything that gets dumped in there and tired of having little paths to get to the freezer/fridge room or over to his workbenches which don't operate as workbenches but as dumping stations.

The Plan:

1) Empty and Toss-obvious

2) Sort to into keep, sell, or garbage

3) Paint

4) Install lighting

5) Install Shelving (custom made BTW)

6) Find a HOME for everything-and put away.

7) Maintain--weekly cleanup (make sure everything is in it's home, throw away trash, declutter)

Okay for some reason, blog is not letting me move the pictures to where I want them.

Wish us luck

Keeping up with the LOADSTERS

2009-05-21T22:35:00.000-07:00

It's May 21st and I have completed 21 scrapbooking layouts this month!! Been staying up way to late to meet the deadline, but loving the results.

Been busy around here...band concerts, dentist appointments, eye appointments, sick kids, Kelly's Middle School Learning Portfolio Presentation next week, getting ready to go camping over the Holiday weekend, Campfire Council Fire and Club camping at Killoqua last weekend, and a photo shoot. And this is just the beginning of the chaos at the end of the school year.

Funny story about the photo shoot. Taking pictures of my friend's son who is graduating in a couple of weeks down at the beach. Saw some logs, so "let's go over there". I made fun of how gingerly he was transversing the logs while he got into position. I start snapping away, changing my position every few clicks when I step on a log and it bounces, startling me. I make note of it and continue to click away changing my position. Well, all of a sudden, that same log moves again and down I go over the logs. Scraped my forearm and my ankle landing in a heap on the ground, but by God, saved the camera and the lens! Whew! Then while laughing it off and trying to get up, my body decides to let off a little steam if you know what I mean. LOL The more I laughed the more "steam" I let off. Thank goodness, Derick is a very close friend. I was embarrassed, but had it been someone I was meeting for the first time, I would have been mortified! Here are some shots from that shoot:

I'm learning how to edit and correct for color in Photoshop and was playing around with some Photoshop Actions. It's a lot of fun.

Pretty Peggy

2009-05-08T07:26:00.000-07:00

Here she is, my beautiful daughter. Okay, I'm a bit biased but she is my daughter!

Pretty proud of myself for keeping up with LOAD May 09 but I am finding that I am doing many digital pages-easier to upload to the computer. This is one was yesterday's, easy peasy. I just found a picture, dropped it into the layout, resized it to fit, added the journaling and I was done!

Those of you who have visited my blog lately may recognize some of the journaling. Another thing that I am finding is that I am using only one photo on a layout, something that I thought not so long along was "stupid".

When I first started scrapbooking, I was focused on getting all my photos scrapped, but with the help of Stacy Julian, I realized its not just about the photos, it's about the stories and the memories. Sometimes just 1 photo on the page can tell the story. Truthfully, there is no way that I am going to be able to scrap the 4,000+ images on my computer or all of the ones that are going to be on it.

If you are a scrapbooker and haven't checked her out or if I have enticed you to start scrapbooking, click on her name and check out her blog. Also if you want to start scrapbooking so you can share your life and your wonderful memories with your family, let me know because I would LOVE to help you out and be with you along your scrapbooking journey.

Happy Friday and Happy Mother's Day to the moms reading this post.

Bloggin' Before Work

2009-05-07T07:52:00.001-07:00

Found this folded and laying on the kitchen table after taking Kelly to jazz band this morning. Hmm...why was he keeping this?? Two snippets on this page, "Build a catapult" and "Tell Elks about a wonderful mom". Oh, isn't this sweet, he is going to enter an essay about how wonderful I am for a chance to win a Mother's Day brunch. How thoughtful. NOT...the essay is for 4th graders, he is in the sixth grade and his sister is in the 3rd grade. Nope, thats not it. He doesn't think that he is a good writer (his dad, my mom and I think he is-and his teachers too) and he thinks it is very hard, so even if he was in the 4th grade, I don't think he would do it. NOPE, not at all. He is interested in building catapults! That's right, my science lovin', invention making kid wants to volunteer next fall to help design, build, and run catapults shooting pumpkins across corn fields! You go kid! After all the Myth Busters, Junk Yard Wars (when he was 2), Dirty Jobs, Monster Garage, and other "educational/science" shows, he's got it in him. I'm behind you all the way. But just know this, when you are at that corn field flinging pumpkins, after I take a few photos, I'll be sitting in the car where the rain can't get me.

Been Scrappin'

2009-05-02T22:45:00.000-07:00

May 2

May 1

Challenging myself to create a "Layout A Day" (LOAD) during the month of May. By the end of the month I will have 31 layouts to put in my scrapbooks. Trying out digital scrapping at the same time. If you want to join me, click on the link above and sign up! I'm on a roll...2 days in a row!

Happy Easter

2009-04-13T19:36:00.000-07:00

Mid chew

The Gangs all here:

L to R: Caleb (Joe's girfriend's grandson), Sofia, Madelin, Emilia in front of her, giant Kelly in the back, Peggy, Riley, and Audrey

Easter festivities started Friday night with the building and decorating of a "Bunny House" by Kelly and Peggy. Ended with blue and yellow frosting all over and tummy's full of jelly beans. We did learn that the orange colored jelly beans from the "Spice" flavored ones don't taste good at all. Favorites....black-black licorice, purple-clove, and red-cinnamon from the "spice" collection and the orange and yellow from the "Speckled" flavored ones.

Saturday the Easter Baskets found their way down from the attic to the kitchen table before bedtime to assure that the Easter Bunny would find them and fill them. And fill them and hid them he did.

Peggy was the first one up and visited us in our room around 7:15 very excited and wanting everyone up. We told her to go back to bed for a little bit because Kelly was still sleeping. A voice then was heard from Kelly's room, "It's not 8:00 yet!" Took the kids a good 15 or so minutes of looking, getting frustrated, and when Peggy went to get some shoes on to go outside to look, she found hers in her bedroom and Kelly got the hint and found his in his room. The Easter Bunny was pretty sneaky and brave while hiding baskets during the night. Good thing Daddy had cleaned her room on Saturday--I don't think the E.B. would have made it out alive or without a GPS!

Teresa and Shane hosted an egg hunt for all the cousins at their home. We braved the rain and cold and the kids found lots of eggs full of candy. The kids all enjoyed seeing and playing with each other and Kelly as always, had his little shadow (the only other boy cousin) Riley attached to him. The kids had fun, just wish the weather would have been more cooperative.

Diggin' It

2009-03-30T21:20:00.001-07:00

The quest for Razor Clams.....

Griffin, Linda, Kelly, Chris, Peggy's arm

Day 2

Team Work!

Kelly and Griffin

Watch those waves, Griffin, they'll take you away!

Kelly wanted to spend Spring Break with his grandparents but they were planning on camping on the coast for a couple of weeks, so we took Kelly to meet up with them. Since Kelly was going to be gone for most of his break, we brought his friend Griffin with us. We spent the weekend camping at Pacific Beach with Grandma and Grandpa Grounds. It turned out to be open for Razor Clamming.

Day 1: Up at 6:30 am to be down at the beach at 7:30 (low tide was around 8:30 am). Woke to Rain/Snow mix, wind, and freezing cold temps (which I am sure were below freezing with the wind chill). Oops, Kelly forgot his RAIN COAT and HAT instead brought 2 pair of RAIN PANTS-turned out to be a good thing for Griffin...bad for mom-she gave up her Rain Jacket to her son and opted for an umbrella to protect her camera. Well, turns out, we did not keep Kelly's old Rain Jacket for Peggy in the trailer, so crafty mom fashioned one out of a garbarge bag for her. For about 3 and a half hours we hunted for razor clams--now mind you, none of us had done this before and we were using borrowed equipment. Ended up with about 7 or 8 total. People around us were getting their limit of 15 in no time at all but they all knew what they were doing. Soaking wet, numb up to their knees, and ice cold hands ended the hunt. Not so fun. Kids came up and changed out of wet sandy clothes, warmed up by playing card and board games, then went outside to ride their scooters in the rain while wearing garbage bags for the rest of the day. Some of us (not me or Peggy) tried fresh fried clams with dinner. Ended with a belated birthday party for Peggy (and Griffin too) with cake and ice cream.

Day 2: Woke to sunny skies, a little wind, still brrrr freezy cold, and still at Pacific Beach (Aunt Jami thought the wind was going to take the trailer to Oz during the night--VERY VERY WINDY). Oh yeah, an extra hour of sleep--the low tide was about an hour later. Found out borrowed equipment was illegal (too small) so purchased the right stuff. Armed with new clam guns, ditched the buckets and went with bags (an observation of the experienced clam diggers), and a little bit more knowledge, hit the beach again. This time (still armed with her camera), mom became the official "dimple in the sand" sighter....Here's one.....Over here, Chris, here's another..."Do I have to follow you all over the beach?" "Well, do you want me to point them out for you?" Just ask Chris how many he found on his own. Griffin dug up a clam--much easier to do today then yesterday, trying to keep buckets from floating away. Peggy got a clam, Kelly got 2, Chris and Linda I think 3 each. Chris cleaned the clams while I attempted to take the kids kite flying-spent more time detangling than flying. Kids got bored with kites that didn't fly so well in strong winds and went and rode scooters--except Kelly who got a lesson in flying a stunt kite. Stayed and enjoyed the sunny day and participated in a kind of "Soup progressive dinner" with Poppa Mike and Grandma Linda's HAM radio friends.

I like this stunt kite, this is fun!

Let's Go Fly A Kite.........

Bathroom Remodel Completed!!--well um almost

2009-03-19T20:31:00.000-07:00

That's right folks--we can now take a shower or a bath in our own home! No more hosing down out in the yard or trekking the mile down to Grandma's to get clean. Yep, our bathroom remodel is completed, well sort of. The contractor and sub-contractors all did their parts...but Chris has some work yet to do. Ya know, we hired the work out so that it would be completely finished but we overlooked 1 thing. Why can't doors and trim come already painted?! And why didn't the contractor fill in the nail holes on the trim when he finished putting it up?

Double Vanity--girls to the left, jokers to the right..ohh I mean boys.

Closed Pocket Door to shower and toilet. Don't want someone to see you while you are taking a shower or using the pot while they wash their face and brush their teeth.

Opened pocket door--real shower rod and curtain yet to be hung--debating on getting a different curved rod but can't seem to find one sturdy enough for Chris (I don't know if he plans on doing chin ups on it or what).

Pretty tile work and pretty new faucets--questioning the shower head--very used to the hand held one. One type of hand held for the last 20 years or so...

A view from the pocket door looking at the new bifold doors to our closet and the door to the hallway. Oh, and one more thing...see that tile floor right there in front of the vanity...it's heated! Yep, we splurged for toasty toes while we brush our teeth and get "all pretty".

To Do List:

Sand and Paint Trim Chris (he already filled in the holes)

Wipe Down and Paint Doors Chris (probably wants me to wipe them down)

Hang Curved Shower Rod Chris

Put up new Shower Curtain Ann

Finish Decorating Ann

Completed:

Move Bathroom supplies back into bathroom Ann

Organize new drawers and closet Ann

Pick out Towel Rack Ann

Hang Towel Rack Chris

Purchase and Set up TP holder Ann

Initial cleaning of new tub, tile, floor, and vanity Ann

As you can see, we have been busy the last week moving in. But looking at our living room, it doesn't show it. So, this weekend, while Chris puts in and hooks up gauges in his truck, I am going to tackle the living room to see if I can make it "livable" and then it's off to the trailer to ready it for camping season!

Oh, the colors---the walls are "Chocolate Froth" by Behr and the doors and trim are going to be "pure white". We went with a neutral beige pallet for the tile. This is the decorative shower curtain a mix of light blue, sand, and brown.

Happy 9th Birthday Peggy

2009-03-12T11:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm a day late but we had a very busy day yesterday and birthday celebrations take precedent over the Internet!

My precious little baby turned 9 years old yesterday. She had 8 balloons (I ordered 9) delivered to her in class, Grandma Anne treated Peggy's class to pretty pansy cupcakes, and we went to The Red Robin for her birthday dinner where they treated her with a free Hawaiian Heartthrob instead of the free birthday sundae because of her milk allergy.

Peggy at Nine:

1) Loves horses or anything to do with horses.
2) Can't get enough of High School Musical One, Two, or Three--music CD or movie DVD
3) Favorite channel on TV is Animal Planet (with close running of Boomerang)
4) Favorite color is Blue
5) Favorite thing to do on the weekend is play on the Wii or play on the computer
6) Favorite sport is soccer
7) Doesn't want this information on the blog
8) Isn't into mommy taking her picture anymore
9) Has a very messy bedroom (but this can be said about the rest of the house too.)

Happy Birthday Peggy

I love you,
Mommy

ps--no pictures, laptop is fixed (so Dell says) and on it's way back home though.

Remodel Update 1

2009-03-01T19:40:00.000-08:00

WOW!! Things sure went fast that first week now it seems to be dragging along. Going on week 4 of going to Mom's and showering--the boys in the evenings and us girls in the mornings. Mom is ready to have her bathroom to herself again!

It is beginning to look like a bathroom....the wiring done, the plumbing done, the walls framed and rocked, ceiling replaced, everything painted, and the tile set. The doors and casing are going in tomorrow and the tile will be grouted and the tile baseboard finished in the next few days. Plumbers are scheduled to return on Wed and we should be able to use the shower that night!!!

Sorry about no pictures--I'm blogging on the family desktop rather than my laptop and I have no pictures on this computer and the reason I'm blogging with the desktop......well, my laptop has decided to have "display driver" problems and has not the dreaded blue screen...but the BLACK screen! Dell is sending me a box to send the laptop in to get fixed and then will send it back to me within 7-10 days.....and YES--I did back things up on Thursday!!!! At least my pictures and online classes.

Still living in chaos and counting the days until I have my house back. Getting excited.

The Remodel Part One

2009-02-10T19:54:00.000-08:00

This was our bathroom on Sunday 2/8/09:

This was our bathroom on Monday, 2/9/09--Fixtures, walls and ceiling gone to expose the "EEEWWWW" around the window and that outside wall. I'll spare you the close up of the EEEWWWW. It was Nasty! Found all kinds of interesting wiring things going on inside the walls....exposed, bare wires just dangling, wires taped and shoved into the wall space. Just lots and lots of code violations. It's a miracle that it never caught on fire. With as messy as the bathroom wiring was, I really don't want to think about the rest of the house. Old entry wall now gone and will be moved to match up with the hallway wall.

Tuesday, 2/10/09---New framing up for the entrance to the bathroom and all dry rot removed and replaced with fresh, brand new wood! Floor was stripped to the floor boards and revealed a nice big hole of dry rot right where the toilet sits.
This shot above is facing the new entry wall from where the tub will be. The "new" framing on the left now closes off the kitchen. There will be another wall going across the room with a pocket door just this side of that plumbing you see coming out of the wall to close off the toilet and tub from the double vanity area

This is the view just outside the "new" doorway into the vanity area.

Chris now wants radiant heat on the floors after he talked with someone at work today. I tried to mention it at the planning stages but no, he said we didn't need it.

Ever changing plans...good thing Norm is flexible.

BTW all construction being completed by Craftwood Construction, LCC.
We have been very happy so far.

A New Year and A New Beginning.....

2009-02-01T20:55:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know that it is Feb 1 already and I haven't posted for over a month. Lots has been happening so give me a break!

1.) construction was started and completed on our covered BBQ area and new roof over the laundry room/back entry. Still have to paint posts and underside of roof.

2.) A new wall, new carpet, new paint, new furniture arrangement, and a new TV in the family room. A family affair. Still slowly moving things back downstairs, purging as I go along.

3.) Following a Dream. Yep, I'm following a dream that I have had for about 20 years. I am going to go to work for Providence Children's Center at the Providence Pavilion for Women and Children in Everett. After 9 years with Providence Hospice and Home Care, I am taking on a new job. I have dreamt of working for PCC ever since doing clinical fieldwork there during my OT schooling. I opened up an "in-house" job openings email for Providence and saw the position. I called on it, had a meet and greet, and was being called to "turn in your resume so we can offer you a job". I think it was meant to be. I start on Tues. Feb 2.

4.) Attending "Award Ceremonies" at the middle school--Kelly made honor roll (as many of his View Ridge classmates did like Jill and Jessica, Cody, Jeremy, and too many more to mention) and he received one of the first "HIP Award" of this sixth grade class. HIP stands for Helpful, shows Initiative, and shows Progress. Each of the 6th grade teachers are asked to nominate 1 or 2 students who meet this criteria. Well, Kelly was nominated by his band teacher, Mr. "G", and his buddy Griffen, was nominated by his Choir teacher. I've now nicknamed them the "Music Men".

5.) Our bathroom remodel begins on the 9th of Feb. Can't wait to get it started as we have all the supplies stashed where ever in the house there is a place for them. Living room is storing a 6' long double vanity and 400 or so sq feet of tile for the floor and shower surround. I've got boxes of mirrors, lighting, faucets, drains, and a fan taking up half of my laundry area. My mom just rolls her eyes every time she comes here, especially when we had all the furniture from the family room stacked in the living room while the carpet was laid. Hopefully by March, everything will be in place with a place for everything.

6.) The Campfire Candy Sale started. You know what that means.....making sure that Peggy sells all the Candy she checked out. She doing well--anyone want some Mints, Almond Carmel Clusters or Peanuttles....give us a call.

Soooo, if I don't post for awhile, you know what's going on.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T00:37:00.000-08:00

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse (except mom who was finishing wrapping presents and thinking there was something that she forgot). The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nickolas soon would be there. The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of Wii Games played in their heads. Mom jumped onto her computer for a quick little blog with her head still swimming in a holiday fog. Time for some quiet, reflection, and thought and no worrying about the presents she bought. As she looked out the window at the yard covered in snow, the reason for the season she would now know.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night.

Be Careful What You Wish For......

2008-12-21T07:57:00.000-08:00

Okay, Kelly wished for a blizzard for this birthday. I agreed to take him to DQ to fulfil his wish, but it was really this, he was really wishing for. A snowstorm similar to the one we had when he was born 12 years ago. Well, it wasn't on his birthday but close enough and it could stick around for a white Christmas.

Last night we had snow and high winds with drifting snow to top the snow and ice that we have had for over a week now. The pictures were taken through the windows. The big "lump" is really our lacy leaf maple with drifted snow. Dreaming of a Green Christmas......

Snow Day--Day 3

2008-12-19T10:58:00.000-08:00

Yep! That's right...the kids have had 3 snow days in a row so technically, Winter Break started 3 days early!!

Snow Day--Day 1, I worked, kids went to my mom's and shoveled snow, played in the snow, decorated gift bags, and drove mom crazy to the point she was calling me asking when was I going to pick them up.

Snow Day--Day 2, SNOWING outside, supposed to all day. I took a snow day to stay home with kids. Kids did a few chores in the morning, then after some lunch, played out in the snow, came in for Hot Cocoa with marshmallows AND whipped cream, back out to play, and played until dinner. Chris came home early because it SNOWED all day and the roads in Seattle weren't looking too friendly. He went and did some Christmas shopping and pick up some items from the grocery store. Had grandma and Marley here for a spaghetti dinner and to celebrate Chris' birthday with his favorite---Dump Cake.

Snow Day--Day 3--My day off, kids begging to go outside before doing some chores around the house. I'm stuck at home awaiting a delivery from UPS for a replacement backsplash on the damaged sink for our remodel project. We will decorate the tree and living room (finally) and wrap some presents, make some tags from here and here, and when Chris gets home...hit the stores without the kids to finish up some shopping. Also, sitting on pins and needles awaiting online shopping deliveries....some that should have been here yesterday and some that are hopefully arriving on Monday. Cross your fingers.

Here are some pics to share.....

The Hunt is on.....

Snow Much Fun

Sorry about the quality--didn't take time to edit.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

2008-12-05T10:49:00.000-08:00

Everywhere else but the Grounds' house! Nope...I haven't decked the halls yet. The stockings aren't hung by the chimney with care and the only thing floating in the air is dust. Time to clean first and then deck the halls.

Silver Bells are ringing at the Everett Civic Auditorium. Kelly performed with the EMS Jazz Band on Tues night and we are headed there tonight to hopefully see Peggy solo as a dancing snowflake (if she doesn't "flake" out) in View Ridge's Holiday Program.

We went over the pass and through the desert to Chris' folks on Thanksgiving Weekend. Spent the time relaxing, eating, soaking in the hot tub, eating, and a visit to the Carousel. Oh, and the highlight--it SNOWED!! Okay, dusted really, but enough to take a couple of runs down a hill on a sled before it was gone the next day. Kids made a few holiday cards (very cute if I might add) while I tried to scrap a bit, but ended up helping them more. So much for my project.

It is only going to get a but busier...will try to post again.....before another month passes.

I VOTED

2008-11-04T19:26:00.000-08:00

In my jammies no less! (Thanks to Snohomish County being all Mail In Balloting-but I did get dressed and dropped them off at a Ballot Drop Off Box.) Did you? Exercise your right as an American and get out and vote!

Trick or Treat

2008-11-04T17:18:00.000-08:00

Ain't she sweet?

A little late, with a bunch on my plate. Not being a snob, just no time to blog.

Play Soccer!

2008-10-15T22:25:00.000-07:00

This dribble lead to a pass which then was turned and dribbled for a shot on goal! Peggy's soccer team played extremely well this last weekend. Passing, dribbling, communicating to each other, and playing as a team. They may not win a lot of games, but they sure are learning important skills that they will use forever and for 3rd graders are playing mature ball. The coaches were very proud of how well everyone played and made sure that the girls and us parents knew about it. Thanks Coaches........Go Lightening Bolts

Playground Fun (not really)

2008-09-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

Wow!! Can I say that my life is in full swing right now and I don't know when it will stop? Work is busy hectic--we are soooo far behind that I have people that have been waiting to see me for a month now! It will be getting better soon, as we have a couple of OT's that are beginning to be able to see patients (finally) as part of their orientation--Yeah!! I give up my repeat visits and take on the new evals.

Anyhow.....Chris has been plugging along 10 hr days M-Th and 8 hr days Fri and Sat. and this week he is working Sunday all day for a crane pick. So he really doesn't get home until 5pm or so and is exhausted.

Kelly's schedule is still in the works...Grandma wants him to come to her house instead of ours or Griffin's when he gets off school. That would be fine and dandy but the kid has to work on his time management (okay, he gets it from his mom) and if he has tons of homework, he needs to start it at Grandma's (either that or practice his trombone)....not play with Marley, not sit and snack for 45 minutes, and definitely no TV. We also need to talk to Grandma too about our expectations of Kelly. She doesn't think that he needs that much homework (challenge classes are too much at this age) and shouldn't be carrying around such a heavy backpack to and from school...At least when I was Kelly's age, I came home to an empty house and was expected to practice my flute for 30-45 mins (before my dad came home-he didn't like hearing it) and get my homework done and finished before I could do anything else. I did do a good job then at time management, but it is now it sucks!

Also, Grandma wants Peggy to come home from school to her house rather than me picking her up at school. It's a transition thing with Peggy...it takes me 20-30 minutes to pick up the kids from mom's. They don't have their shoes on, they want to finish the snack they started 20 minutes ago, or "mom, look what Marley can do today!" And sometimes, I have homework I need to finish before dinner. Crazy, crazy!!

Peggy's got soccer at 5 pm Tue/Thurs and games on Saturdays. Makes it hard on the dinner schedule. And she began Campfire meetings on Mondays from 3:30 to 5 pm this week.

Kelly has trombone practice at 6 pm on Tues--so Chris gets the privilege of taking him cause I'm still at soccer practice.

I now get up between 5:45 am and 6:00 am to leave the house by 6:20 to take Kelly to "band class before school" otherwise know as "Jazz Band" or "Stage Band" as I called it 30 years ago and keep trying to call it that now. Kelly keeps correcting me on the term, so I have settled and just call it "band class before school". He's the only 6th grader in there as he has had a year's jump start on playing than all the other 6th graders.

We are going to go to our first Husky game this weekend!! A 7pm game at Husky Stadium. We will be meeting up the the Arnold's to tailgate and then head into the game. It will be a LONG day for Chris who will be getting up at 4am to go to work.

Jumping off the swing to have some fun.

We Got A WII!!!!!!

2008-09-07T22:04:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's right. We got a Wii today! You'd think it was Christmas in this house. We surprised the kids.

We did some shopping today at Costco and Target and decided to stop at Best Buy to look at TV's as our antiquated tube TV is dying a painful death. When we were leaving Best Buy we saw that they had the Wii and Wii Fit and the kids begged and begged as we kept going out the door to do our shopping.

After Costco, we stopped at Target which shares a parking lot with Best Buy. I straggled behind as we walked to the door and slipped away just as Chris, Kelly and Peggy went in. I hightailed it over to Best Buy and bought it while they had NO clue -they didn't realize that I had left them. Aunt Debbie unknowingly helped us by being there at Target and being a distraction. Debbie tried to reach me on my cell as I was checking out and when I didn't answer, Chris called and caught me just as I was crossing the parking lot. I had him meet me outside of Target and he took the package and hid it in his truck, while I went into Target to meet up with the kids and Aunt Debbie. The kids were still oblivious.

While the kids were unpacking the truck, and doing some chores, we set up the boxes in front of the TV and asked the kids to come down and clean up the DVD's on the floor. Take a look at their faces, pure joy!

This mom and dad have been so....anti Video games mainly because they encouraged sitting in front of a TV every available hour and did not encourage imaginative play, physical activity, reading, nor creativity. Chris and I decided long ago that we would not have a video game console (Nintendo, Game Boys, x-Box, Play Station, or hand held Nintendo DS) in our home. Well, this new interactive gaming bug and the pleading and begging from 2 children constantly broke us down. However, we only have the Wii Sports and Wii Fit right now and will be placing strict limits on games that can be purchased or given as gifts....the only games allowed in this house will be ones that make you get your butt off the couch and "work the body" a bit. Mario Kart Racing does not fit this category. Got it, good!

I also had alterior motives for getting the Wii and Wii Fit. I want to use the Wii Fit in helping me get this old body into shape and into some new clothes in sizes I haven't seen in many years. Okay, I have now just told the Internet world and those friends and families that read this blog that I am going to "get fit" if it kills me in the process. Keep watching...I am going to try to compete (okay, not "compete" but coordinate my efforts) with "The Biggest Loser". I am cheating a little bit because I want to get started as soon as we get the Wii Fit, set up. It looks like a lot of fun.

PS, I scored better on my first game of Wii Golf, than Chris. I scored a 16 and he scored a 23 on a 3 hole Par 12 course. Whooo Hoooo.

"Wii" are with the times now.

School's In Session

2008-09-04T21:47:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's right...no more kiddo's at home on my day off--oh, did I just say that? oops.

Kelly started middle school this year at Evergreen Middle School (I went there too). He actually road the bus to school and believe or not...I did not go up to the school to take pictures. I said my goodbye and good luck at the bus stop and I got this....

That's Kelly in the green shirt!

I heard some noises on the bus as I was taking the picture (whoops and hollers) and I thought to myself..what did I just do? Did I put a target on Kelly's back to get teased about his "mommy" at the bus stop with him? I hope not and he didn't say that anyone gave him any guff. Whew!

He had homework the first day but that should have been expected looking at his class schedule. He has Challenge Block (writing, reading, and social studies), Challenge Math, Science, health and playing the trombone in band. I don't think that he will have a problem, we just need to get him to manage his time.

Little Miss Peggy isn't so little anymore. Just look at her on the first day of 3rd grade...

Does she look anything like me?

After sitting on pins and needles this summer waiting to hear the answer to our appeal for variance denial she is enrolled at View Ridge and is in Mrs. Harris' class. Mrs. Harris is a Mickey Mouse fanatic and Peggy gets to earn Mickey Money to spend on classroom auctions.

We will be taking Peggy's Wizard of Oz collection to display in the Library's Display case. That's what I get to do tomorrow, on my day off, along with the bazillions of errands, shopping at Costco, laundry, and cleaning!! Wish me luck and wish the kids well this year in school.

Where Does Time Go????

2008-08-16T14:50:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it? Summer is almost gone!! Where did it go? We've spent time camping with friends and with family, enjoying our sunny weather, working, and playing.

Kelly has his 6th grade orientation on Tues where he will get his schedule, his locker # and combination, his ASB card, his pictures taken, and practice going to classes--all this, within 3 weeks of finding out that he was NOT even registered for middle school!! Little did I know that because we were on a variance with View Ridge, I needed to let the school know what middle school he was to attend-even though it was the same one as the kids at View Ridge. I found all of this out after stopping at the school to check on office hours so that I could find out if Kelly was going to be in any challenge classes next year. Many of his friends had found out the week before through letters home. The principal was there and looked and could not find Kelly enrolled! She took my number and called me the very next day to say that he was dropped from enrollment for some unknown reason. Anyhow, he is all signed up and is in challenge block (reading/writing/social studies); challenge math, and playing the trombone in band.

Peggy on the other hand has begun soccer practices Tue/Thurs from 5 to 6 in the evening. She is getting excited to start Campfire. And after a long wait, has had her appeal for variance to attend View Ridge approved! Now we need to get her signed up at View Ridge and placed (I hope) into Mrs. Albert's class.

Chris is on his new jobsite (at a Children's Hospital Facility downtown Seattle) and is working 10 hour days M-Fri and will most likely be working Saturdays that he doesn't have anything planned (camping trips, home Husky games).

Me, well, being productive scrapbooking, putting together little "photo album scrapbooks" in my online class; trying to take more photo's and learning to "tweak" them just a bit in Photoshop like the professionals do; and working!! Our census at work has gone from 300 to over 550 patients on services from last year this time and we are DOWN an OT. So, at least I can say that I have job security.

I will leave you with this:

Happy 15th Anniversary

7/31/08

(taken 8/2/08)

Yes, they did hold hands briefly. How nice to see them helping each other!!

This was our actual anniversary evening ;o)

Who knew we would be celebrating at our kids' Orthodontist's Skating Party!

Our latest camping trip--Gold Basin Campground

Kelly's twin block I think needs the nickname

"mad block" because he always looks mad.

FREE FUN FRIDAY

2008-07-10T21:34:00.000-07:00

Yeah!!! Tomorrow's Friday! It's just Peggy and I so Peggy gets to choose our "Free Fun" for Friday and guess what she choose to do? SCRAPBOOK in our "new" scrapbook room. I am looking forward to it because I can dive into my BPS Have More Fun class and share some of it with her. Oh, and I learned from the message board on that class that tomorrow is 7-11 and that 7-11 stores give away FREE 7.11 oz slurpees in honor of it's birthday! So Peggy and I are going to 7-11 tomorrow. I hope they have banana as one of the flavors---my fav.

Last time I posted was about how I (selfish me) ruined Free Fun Friday for the kids. They did get to go to Grandma Anne's house though and had fun with Marley while I went with their Kindergarten teacher to see her new granddaughter. Anyway... here are some of the photos that I took of the newborn baby and her parents.

Okay, I Ruined It All Ready

2008-06-25T22:03:00.000-07:00

What you may ask? Well, last Friday (their official first day of summer) as we sat at the car dealership waiting for the oil change to be completed, the kids and I decided that Fridays (if we weren't camping that weekend) were going to be FREE FUN FRIDAYS. We brained stormed and came up with many free activities in and around our town that we wanted to do. Some of the things that made our list: Forest Park-Water Spray Park; Explore a park that we have never been to; Take Marley to an Off Leash Dog Park; Go to Jetty Island; Take a Hike in the Forest to see a waterfall; Bake cookies or brownies; Walk to a local Park (2 miles away); Go to the Beach; Go to the Arboretum; and Take in Cinema Under the Stars at Silver Lake Park.

How have I ruined it? Well for starters--I invited the Sears Repairman to come and do a "check up" on my washing machine on Friday. Of course, they can only give you a time of "between the hours of 8am and 12 noon". "You will get a reminder call on Thurs night, and on Friday they will call you about an hour before they arrive--if you don't answer that call, they will not show up. Needless to say, we will be sticking at home Friday morning. Thank you for choosing Sears Extended Warranty".

Then, the kids' Kindergarten teacher had her first GRANDbaby and I volunteered to do a "newborn shoot" to get some practice and work on my photography portfolio. Well, the only time that is going to work (while baby is under 4 weeks old) is this Friday afternoon. Go figure. I so badly want to do this shoot, it will be a lot of fun. So, I am driving 45 minutes one way with Mrs. O'Donnell to see her precious newborn granddaughter. She is so giddy about this baby. I'll be sure to take some pictures of her with her.

Well, I will leave you with some shots I took this weekend at my greatniece's birthday party.

Flying Sofia and her daddy, Bert.

Summer Begins......

2008-06-18T21:16:00.000-07:00

It's official...the bathing suit was broken out!

Wow!!! Whew!! Time for a break! The last 2 months have flown by. Campfire is done. Campfire Campout is done and over with. Campfire Council Fire is over. The school Spring Carnival over and photos all delivered. AND the topper (drum roll please) the 5th Grade Bridging Ceremony is over!! I completed the DVD slide show on Monday (had some late additions of photos). It turned out pretty good. I made 95 DVD copies of it over the last two days and actually delivered them to school today to be handed out to the students. Thank goodness for wonderful parent volunteers who helped with the Bridging Ceremony, especially my good friends Amy and Amy, Debbie, Andrea, and Jill. It wouldn't have happened without them. Now it is time to reclaim my "role" as mother, wife, CEO of the household, meal planner, grocery shopper, housekeeper, and laundress. Now you're talking FUN. NOT!

However, I am going to HAVE MORE FUN this summer starting July 3, 2008. My online portrait photography course ends June 30. I have learned so much in that class and can't wait to start taking "portraits" of friends and family for a little extra dough.
Tomorrow is the last day of school and the kids get out at 1:00 (12:55 to be exact). We usually end up at a park with friends afterwards. Kelly didn't want to go to bed tonight, because tomorrow will be his last day at View Ridge. He starts 6th Grade at Evergreen Middle School (my Alma Mater) in the fall.

We will be having Kelly's buddy's older sister come and be with the kids over the summer while Chris and I are at work. Grandma Anne needs a break as Kelly's and Peggy's bickering over every little thing pushes her over the edge. Not a good thing. We want Grandma staying ON the LEDGE.

I think summer is arriving, the weather is now more like spring and typical of this time of year. It rained yesterday on my birthday which is pretty much par for the course.
We have started camping and are looking forward to a LONG 4th of July weekend camping in the HOT weather of Eastern Washington on the Snake River. We will be camping with Mom and Dad Grounds, Jim and Twila Herrin (family), and Chris' high school buddy, Jeff and his family. It will be our second time this year with both the folks and the friends. Should be a lot of fun. A few other camping trips are planned with friends from school and friends from work. We are going to stick fairly close by after the 4th, but we are not letting the gas/diesel prices keep us from having fun as a family.

Can't wait to let the "Summer Fun" begin!!

Pictures from Bridging 6/16/08

Mrs. O'Donnell---the teacher who started it all.
These kids were all in kindergarten together with this wonderful woman. She is retiring this year after many years of teaching and surely will be missed. (And she became a grandmother today!)

Mrs. Dugaw drove 2 hours to be here for these kids (okay, not just Kelly and Griffin, but her last second grade class at View Ridge who are all now going into the 6th grade next fall). It was a total surprise to the kids, parents, and teachers!! Kelly's 4th grade teacher and I had made sure that she knew she was invited. It was great fun to have her here.

Kelly receiving his Certificate of Completion for Elementary School from his 5th grade teacher, Mr. Hashimoto (yes, Kelly is taller than he is).

Couldn't resist the beautiful fields of wildflowers at Pearrygin Lake State Park, near Winthrop, WA. The kids were good sports while I played with my camera. All these were taken in the "Manual" Mode where I chose the shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and focal length. Still in the learning curve but getting better. I need to get an EXPO disc to create a custom white balance (colors are off here) and learn to touch up in Photoshop Elements.

The Grounds and Herndon Children

The Herndon Kids

Walking Amongst The Wildflowers-an attempt at being artistic.

The beginnings of my Portrait Photography Career!!

If you click on the photos, they will open up bigger in a new window.

A New Twin Block

2008-05-15T21:13:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's right. We have a new "Twin Block". No, we aren't talking engines but braces.

Kelly was fitted a couple of weeks ago for the 2nd phase of his braces. He had new molds made of his teeth and an apparatus called a "Twin Block" was made from the molds. This "Twin Block" is supposed to correct his severe overbite by bringing his lower jaw forward.

He has been counting the days until we got to pick it up. Well, today was the BIG DAY!!!!!!!!

We picked up his new purple "Twin Block" and left the purple "Husky" retainer at the orthodontist's office to dispose of.

It's kind of hard to get used to as it pushes his lower jaw way forward and really changes his profle. His new nickname is "Slurp" because he keeps slurping to keep from drooling !! He is to wear it 24/7 but he has to get used to eating with it in. Which proved to be too difficult tonight at dinner. One of the assistance offered us her rule that she had for her daughter when she wore this type of device: You can't take it out while eating unless you have your storage container with you, NO wadding up in napkins.

Check out the profile shots and the Twin Block itself (the 2 piece retainer looking thing above his old retainer). Just click on the photo for a larger view.

Have a happy day, and oh...the next time you talk to Kelly have him recite his phone number--it sounds really funny-and wait for the slurp :o)

Spring---It's Finally HERE

2008-04-29T21:20:00.000-07:00

Income taxes done---check

Snow gone AGAIN---check

Home Projects, hmmmm---in process

Trailer recall fixed---check

Trailer brakes and wheel bearings checked--check

Camping Reservations made for Holiday Weekends---check

Avoid Bankruptcy gassing up car and truck---trying

Visit the tulips in bloom---check

Write a post for Blog---check

Not much else going on expect me stretching myself too thin...School Carnival Photo Booth-Organize and Run; 5th Grade End of Year/Graduation/Bridging Ceremony-committee chair; Lead Campfire Group-Month of April-Trail to the Environment and kids earned "Getting Ready for Camping" badge; Campfire Campout-plan and organize; Campfire Training for next 3 years; Online 12 wk Photography Course with weekly assignments; and Online Photo organizing for scrapbooking class; as well as scheduling and taking kids and myself to doctor's, dentist's, and eye appointments. Oh yeah, forgot to add--researching contractors/remodelers and scheduling estimates for new bathtub and dry wall.

She'll have Fun, Fun, Fun, until her hubby takes her computer away........

Limos, Red Carpet, and Magic

2008-04-13T21:52:00.000-07:00

Yep. That's right folks. What a day we had today! Miss Peggy received the Red Carpet treatment today at Campfire's Super Seller Event. Because so many of you supported her efforts to sell 400 units of Campfire Candy (she actually sold 405), she was able to go for a 45 minute Limo ride, get greeted with a flower, walk down the red carpet and watch a Magic Show. Not to mention going up on stage to receive a Super Seller Patch, 300 Club Pin, and a Ty bunny to sign up on ty.com. She didn't win the drawing for a week at camp, but she earned Candy currency which she can use to spend for camp. Oh, and the best part--her daddy (The Amazing Chris) was part of the magic show-thanks to Grandma Anne who couldn't climb the bleacher steps and made him sit in the front row, front and center. We all had a good time (except big brother Kelly-he wanted to leave before the awards were handed out-that's a brother for you). The next time you talk with Peggy, ask about her Limo ride but be prepared to have your ear talked off as she just can't stop talking about how much fun it was. Thought that maybe this was going to be her 1st and only, but now that she has had the taste, I think that she is even going to try to sell more next year.

Ann's Theory on Evolution.

2008-04-05T16:40:00.000-07:00

Why is it when you start a project, another project evolves from that project and pretty soon you seem to have too many things going on at once! Here at our house: 1) Finally fixed the walls and flooring in the laundry room/entry. Okay, time to paint. Well, we might as well paint the vaulted ceiling and other walls in that area. Well, the wall on the little stairs continues to upstairs so we paint that hallway. Ceilings look bad too, no wait, lets get a new overhead light fixture for the laundry room, oh and we should get a new "spotlight" since that one looks so outdated oh, can't forget the outdated ceiling fan. Now painting the laundry room evolved into a complete re-do there. However, the ceilings, light fixtures and fan (need to buy) still need to be completed. I just "kind of" finished painting the cupboard doors (still have the insides to do but I wanted them up and out of the way). Laundryroom/Entry-UNFINISHED. I was taking an online scrapbooking course-"Get Organized and Be Inspired" so we had a time table to start the re-do of the upstairs guest room which is now the family "hobby/craft room". (Scrap space COMPLETE-Chris' space and storage areas-UNFINISHED). Moving the full sized bed into Kelly's room, made "that project" evolve into removing and rearranging furniture in Kelly's room (thank goodness we don't have to paint!!!!). Time to declutter in there too-JUST STARTING. The topper is the BATHTUB that needs replacing since last MAY (it's cracked and patched with a boat patch). It's not just the bathtub, it's the drywall too-NEXT IN LINE after Kelly's room. If money allowed, it would evolve into a remodel where we would be closing in the doorway to the kitchen to make that hall area a double vanity area for the bathroom, allowing privacy for someone to shower or use the toilet while someone else was brushing their teeth,doing their hair, or putting eyeballs in. And if that happened, it would evolve into a kitchen remodel since there is a new wall where a doorway used to be. So, I guess what I am saying is that every project we seem to conquer in this house evolves into a much larger project or into an entirely different one and nothing ever seems to get finished. And Why? Just so we can have something to do and never have a house that is "all put together". Maybe by June we will put the last check mark by COMPLETED and have everyone over to see the new digs. Oh, and by the way, we should probably paint the family room, living room, kitchen, hallway and our bedroom (which we haven't painted) since they need it too and we don't want any room to feel left out of the evolution process.

Home Project Gone Bad

2008-03-30T22:17:00.000-07:00

Okay why is it when we decide to do a "little" home project around this house it turns out to be a major catastrophe?!

Chris decides that today would be a pretty good day to install a "new" hand me down kitchen sink faucet.

1. He crawls under the sink and pulls out all the stuff and finds that something has been leaking down there and probably for sometime. Okay, get some towels and mop up the water.

2. Remove old gross, disgusting faucet and hose sprayer with help from Kelly who is afraid to touch anything that might get his hands dirty-"just grab it Kelly! You can wash your hands after you get it out!"

3. Find that the new faucet has a broken part and then decide the sink needs some new hoses. Try to get Ann to go to the Big Box Hardware Store to get the part. Ann declines, saying Chris needs to go because he knows what he is looking for.

4. Grab car keys, Kelly, and list and head to store. Call Ann while at store to grab tape measure and measure the place where the new part is to go (there were SEVERAL choices-glad he went).
Ann measures-measurements don't sound right to Chris so he buys 3 different ones for the one part.

5. Come home with everything on list and remember that you forgot to put something unrelated to this project on the list and didn't get it. Double check Ann's measurements and see that something doesn't look right. Call mom and dad-(original owners of "new" faucet) and find out that a part had broken off in the part that Ann was measuring. Get broken piece out and put in new part.

6. Try to attach a part (something different than above part) that was just purchased-wrong size. Get keys, Kelly, and head back to BBHS to get the right size. Come back attach right sized part and move to next step.

6.5 Bump head on cabinet hardware under sink and start bleeding by eyebrow.

7. Clean disgusting yuck off sick where old faucet used to be. Place new faucet where old one was. Oh, I should have bought some plumber's putty when we were at the store. Get keys, Kelly, and back to BBHS. Come back and put putty where it is supposed to go.

8. Attach hoses to "new" faucet. Oops, something not right-the hoses don't hook up properly. Get Keys, Kelly and back to BBHS. Come back with new hoses-attempt to attach those, nope, that's not working... Get keys, Kelly, and head back to BBHS for different hoses. Stop at grocery store to pick up brats to cook for dinner and come home. Try new hoses...still not working. Keep trying. Kelly starts to BBQ's brats. Hoses just won't work...finally call Plumber friend Darrel-not home, leave desperate message to please return call.

9. Darrel calls back, get back under sink and try to describe problem-discuss with Darrel for 45 minutes. Find that something else isn't working on the faucet. Take faucet apart to see what's wrong-describe to Darrel what you see. Get suggestion from Darrel, get keys, leave Kelly home this time and head back to BBHS.

10. My knight in shining amour arrives---it's Darrell, he has come to fix the faucet. He's still on the phone with Chris who is at the BBHS. Darrell looks at Chris's project, tries to tell Chris what he needs to get-decides to meet Chris at the BBHS (which Darrell doesn't know where it is). Darrell gets Kelly and heads to BBHS. I tell Darrell as he is leaving, just get me a NEW faucet.

11. Get call from Chris--look at your cell phone, I just sent you a picture of a faucet. Didn't come through--just pick out something, not expensive.

12. Boys return home, bring in bags of parts and hoses and a NEW faucet. Darrell brings in tool bucket, but it is Chris who heads back under sink. 60 minutes later--a NEW working faucet!

5 Trips to BBHS and 9 hours later....

Lesson learned....call plumber first ;o)

Spring Is Here???

2008-03-29T21:54:00.000-07:00

Saturday evening, March 28, 2008, it decides to start SNOWING. Big, white, fluffy flakes, that begin to come down harder and faster with each passing minute. Oh, it might be just a dusting, but no, the ground, the grass, and the road was quickly covered in 1-2 inches in 2 hours. Okay, it's not a huge snowstorm, but enough to make Chris want to take the Subaru out for a spin to see how it handles in the snow. It has stopped now and I hear wet, slushy stuff as cars drive by. The kids will be disappointed when they wake up in the morning and it is all gone. Hey, that's Washington snow for you....here today, gone tomorrow.

Sorry for the sideways photo--just learning this blogging thing.

I've Done It Now.

2008-03-27T23:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have officially jumped on the "blogging" band wagon and have set up a blog. This blog is going to be mainly for keeping in touch with family and friends and randomly sharing "scraps" of our daily life. Which may or may not be of importance to you. Please feel free to share comments about my blog-I want to hear from you. This is just an introduction post right now. I am just learning how to do this blog thing.

What's been going on in the Grounds' life, you may be asking. Well here it is: Chris is now a foreman at McKinstry working under our friend and neighbor, Dave Smith. Chris is in charge of a finishing up a job while Dave went to start a new job. Once Chris is done at his job, he will go and join Dave at the new job site.

Kelly is playing the trombone (not in band yet-6th grade) and taking lessons on it. His trombone teacher says that he is a "natural" at the trombone which can be a very difficult instrament to play. He was involved in the Boeing After-School Science Club this winter quarter and also participated in an afterschool book club. He loves school and all subjects except writing (although it is hard for him, he does a very good job). We need to get him back on the golf course soon so he doesn't loose his swing.

Peggy just finished up her Campfire Candy Sale in Feb. She managed to sell 405 individual units of candy and earned a ride in a limo to the "Super Seller Event". We did a lot of selling in front of stores and at a couple of Retirement homes. It was a challenge but she/we did it! She is loving school also and doing well. She loves to read and is crazy about horses and "WebKins". She spends a bit of time on the computer at the Webkins site, Discovery Kids, and PBS kids.

I'm still an OT from Prov Home Care--going through LOTS of changes at work. We are now under a big Providence Health System umbrella and having to deal with cooperate stuff. We will be getting a new software program that is going to be shared by all the Prov Home Cares and Hospices of Washington. My boss has been pulled away from the office and her duties and is strictly working on this new software program, helping build it from scratch. We have been super busy with patients too (we even had to cut off referrals for a week). I have been busy decluttering, having Chris paint the laundry room/entry and upstairs room, and repurposing the "guest room" into a "Family Hobby Room". One corner is Chris' computer and HAM radio stuff, one corner is my Scrapping Area, and we have put a table in there for the kids to do crafts, and Kelly to work on his remote control car. It has turned out very nice.

I will be starting an online photography course next week and am looking forward to it. Still loving my hobby of photography and scrapbooking.

Well, this was a bit more than just a "scrap of life", but I wanted to get you caught up to where we are. Hoping to get some pictures up in the near future.

Ann