Somebody has turned 40...

...and it wasn't me!!! (Oh, that's right...I ALREADY hit that number last year-LOL).

Here's a few pics of the gag gifts I got my childhood BFF, Chelse. Chelse has been and continues to be with me through all of lifes ups and downs. She's what you call "TRUE BLUE." Loyal and brutally honest...especially when it's what I need to hear. She holds me accountable and is a huge source of strength for me. I am so blessed to have had her in my life for 30 some odd years.

Here's hoping your 4oth birthday was filled with fun and happiness and surrounded by those that love ya Chelse! YOU DA BEST BESTEST FRIend EvaH!

Hugs,

Suz

Yesterday & Today Sneak Peak

This is a sneak peak of a "work-in-progress"intro page layout to the latest album I have begun documenting Y & T:

To get you in the Halloween Spirit...

... check this out. The BEBZ had fun playing along and learning too.

Friday The Boo had "The ICK"

He stumbled into our room at 4am complaining of his "belly feeling weird." Soon after GI distress took over. No school for him. Amazingly, he recovered by noon. Never had a fever. What's up with that? Grateful he was back to his old self so quickly + crossing our fingers (translation: saying some prayers) that none of the rest of us contracted "The Ick."

Yesterday & Today

Worked on scanning some pics for my opening layout for Y&T Album Project. So fun to go through old photos. I can't wait to find a moment or two to finish the opening layout. (Hopefully that chance will come tonight!)

Early to Bed...

...early to rise, makes a momma....

Tired. Period. (Sorry, I know you were lookin' for "healthy, wealthy and wise." Not gonna happen today folks!)

• up at 7am, cleaned archway cabinets (yes, that's right, I cleaned them all out before the boys got up)
• made lunch and started loads of laundry
• fed the dogs, the cat, the kiddos
• walked Boo to school
• homeschooled on Ancient Greece, grammar and more (found some really cool, free educational websites to boot! Like putting back together a skeleton and learning all of the major bones-both BEBZ and da momma enjoyed that one)
• paid a few bills and matched a few socks
• checked cell phone just in time to find out Boo left his lunch at home-ran it over to school ALMOST in time to prevent the meltdown. ALMOST. I was signing in at the office window when I got a hug tackle from behind. I turned around to locks of blond hair and a distraught face riddled with tears. Somehow, through the muddled words that were interjected by sporadic, sputtering hiccups I was able to decipher these words that billowed out in one huge gust of emotion: "I dIDn'T wAnT to HAVE to gET a NUMBERRRRR oNEEEEEEEEE!" (Apparently, my peanut butter and strawberry-rhubarb jam sandwiches must hold some clout with the young lad. Or at least, it was an improvement over whatever the "Number One" was).
• took Ian to band, gassed up car (What's up with the stinkin' hugs increase in gas prices again? GRRR....)
• picked up dry cleaning
• attempted to donate vehicle full of donations, to no avail "No More Donations Accepted Today" sign posted. Sheesh.
• stopped by used book store and found a few good finds; really enjoyed looking at turn of the last century grammar books complete with the owner's signature and grammatical corrections, (Am I the only one who gets totally enthralled and sentimental by the sight of old handwriting and the mystery behind the person who owned the book? What she believed? How her life was different or the same from mine? I don't know, call me a geek but I think it's pretty neat to hold a bit of history in my hands.
• picked up Ian from band
• oversaw the creation of Ian's Ancient Minoan fresco of "bull jumping"
• picked up Boo from school
• took Boo to play tennis
• made chicken fajitas just in time for the boys to inhale it before taking one to tae kwon do and the other to a Cub Scouts' den meeting
• came home and cleaned kitchen from dinner mess, had Boo take a shower and spent the rest of the evening reading The Legend of Sleepy Hollow to Boo before crashing in my bed, beneath my beloved 100% silk comforter and cozy flannel sheets. Calgon moment achieved.
• So, how was your day? :)

Quote of the Day:

Your goal in education is reaching their heart, filling their emotional cup, teaching them moral foundations, capturing their vision for life for the kingdom of God, teaching them what it looks like to walk through difficult times while holding tight to the hand of God. May God grant you understanding and faith to follow these paths and to raise up a strong generation for Him. ~ Sally Clarkson

20 Years and Counting

Last weekend was Mick's 2oth HS Reunion. We made it back for all of the festivities despite needing to call for directions when Mick's iPhone led us astray AND being 40+ minutes late! It would've been fine except for the fact that I had been at the district tennis semi/finals all day and had only gotten to eat one measley(sp?) Quaker Oats Granola Bar. Let's just say I did my very best not to turn "Sybilesque" on Mick. (I DID help myself to seconds on dinner without a second thought though!)

Mick did his best to work the room and visit with all of his old pals. I mean, there's alot of pressure reuniting with all of your fellow alums when you were voted "Mr. Pacific" by the whole class. Oh, and need I mention he was also voted Mr. Romantic? Or some title along that line. Yeah...ladies...he's ALL mine now (hee-hee-hee!).

***(Oh wait...I have just been notified by the Mickmeister himself! I need to post edit this post).

As I read this post out loud to him just now, Mick, under his breath and while coughing, said, "AND Homecoming King."

Chuckle, chuckle, chuckle.

Whatevah my dear...WHAT-EVAH! Sheesh. Enough already! How many awards can one dude get in a classtime? ;)

Random Thought: I love being the spouse at these events-no pressure for me-I can sit back and just attempt to look pretty...and ahem...young!

Before it was all said and done, Mick and I managed to score a $15 Blockbuster GC for being voted "Best Dressed Couple". Yeah baby...now me and Mista Romantical can go and have a date night-alone...just us and the DVD! Ha! (Post note: Keep your minds out of the gutter here people-I'm talking a PG13 movie; R tops!)

The Pre-race Festivities

A little game of football, washers and this:

A parade of Hum-Vs and troops. GOD BLESS THE TROOPS.

And no Nascar race would be complete without a stroll past pit row by this:

Looking at this...

made me hungry for the "Snack of a Lifetime". Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of it as the majority of the gallon size bag was consumed by me, myself and I as well as the BEBZ. It was & IS so good + addictive that it has been affectionately and appropriately termed : "Track Crack".

The aforementioned confection is a veritable delight of salty + sweet: a type of Chex Mix and pretzels combined with craisins and almonds and caramel crunchy goodness amidst it all. Seriously folks- the stuff is IT. And I can get an actual copy of the recipe...if I'm willing to give up my first born son.

(Hmmm.....

...JK!)

Those promised pics

Gentlemen...START. YOUR.ENNNNNNGINES!!!!!!! The perfect way to spend time when you have a family of all boys (well...save the momma-LOL). Fast vehicles, loud engines and oceans of people + flags. The downside...some of the T-shirts being worn by a few. (I just hoped the innuendos of some of them were completely over the head of our 11 year-old. I hope...I hope!)

Thank you to these two for making the weekend all possible (and to Cliff and Teri too!):

The upside...had to be my favorite vanity plate of all times...

(And yes, I did ask the owners of the vehicle if I could take a picture of it).

Somebody had a birthday

and it wasn't me (thank goodness)! We spent the evening of Mick's birthday quietly at home as the evening before we had the next door neighbor's over for homemade lasagna dinner complete with made from scratch Candy Apple Pie & French vanilla ice cream. It was a quiet evening b/c the next morning was the beginning of a weekend of this: More pictures of that event to follow.

Everyone should have one of these...

a choreboard that is. Ian & I decided it was time to make chores more interesting. We decided why not make a game of it? Why not make it an art project for homeschooling too? And better, yet, why not incorporate the great hobby of scrapbooking into it? Why not I ask you?

So after much contemplating and planning of what supplies to use, how to coordinate the supplies and how to make a fully functioning "Wheel of Unfortunate Chores Events," we came up with this little number. And, I have to say, this "Choreboard" works and helps to maintain the peace. At least, in this household!

Much logic went in the planning of this wheel. Where to positioning the various chores so that if one brother got a less popular chore, the other brother got one too. Therefore, I guess I could count it as a math and logic project too (probability and whatnot-ya think?)-LOL!

Whew!

I am sooo ready for my busy season to be over with. How do I know this? Because my body tells me so. Ha.

Last night I crashed on the couch at 6:30pm amidst trying to watch Phantom of the Opera on DVD with Ian. I really enjoy this movie, but my eyelids just and consciousness were fighting it all the way. I lost the battle and I awoke at 8pm to the sound of drums...and trumpets...and big boys; both big and little, taking turns at making melodies...and having a blast while doing so...completely oblivious to the fact that I was sleeping and in dire need of rejuvenation and rest. I forgave them though-'cause they were having so much fun together-and I can't not love a daddy bonding with his boys! I only wish I grabbed my camera to catch it all.

So today has been lots of errand running and checking things of the to do list; like:

• paying bills
• writing checks
• chaffeuring to tennis lessons + tae kwon do lessons + band
• home schooling: Middle East countries, polypeptides, amino acids and more baby!
• cleaning: kitchen, floors, bathrooms and more bathrooms...sigh.
• laundry, laundry and more laundry
• wrapping up the book fair financials and getting check ready to send to Scholastic
• helping Boo with his homework (the quarter ends tomorrow and I found out from his teacher this afternoon that he had a week's worth of homework he hadn't brought home!-So guess who didn't get to play tennis with his momma today? Hopefully tomorrow he'll get a chance to play.)
• returning phone calls and rescheduling appointments that conflict with one another-like dental appointments and parent-teacher conferences
• running to the store for a few items on a new recipe I've been wanting to try that I found here.
• Note: Dinner is now complete and I have to say we (meaning Mick and myself) enjoyed the new recipe. I added a bit extra of chile oil and opted to throw cashews into the mix. Yumola! Our taste buds were so excited to try something new. (Chili, tacos, spaghetti and chicken nuggets were getting a bit stale).
• More cleaning to go as I want to get the house in order before tomorrow. Boo gets out early from school and I finally have scheduled a much needed spa day (well, ok, actually it's just an hour)with Jules. I can't wait to be pampered. Yay me! :) (FINALLY using a gift certificate from my 40th bd-almost a year ago now).

So excited to begin...

...this journey! I've already listened to the 1st video and am stoked to get started! Ali E is a favorite SD of mine, and even though I don't agree with her politics, I do respect her Designer's Eye for Scrapbooking and her documention of life with words + photos. Thanks for the inspiration Ali!

I so know how she feels, don't you?

I check this lady's blog on (nearly) a daily basis; for many reasons: she takes breathtaking photos, she posts wickedly delicious recipes, she homeschools her kiddos and she writes as if you're at her side, experiencing her life up close and personal. Tonight as I was reading her post, I came across this excerpt from her blog. I SO get HER. She so captures the thoughts of every mother. Thank you Ree for giving my pulled heartstrings a voice...and validity.

Tennis, Book Fair, Tennis

Swamped with all of the above this week, with two tournaments-one I'm coaching for and one I'm playing in as well as chairing the book fair in am. Running on fumes at this point. I love this time of year...and I hate it. It's crazy busy-but sometimes I think it's how I roll best. I will, however be ready for some much needed and welcome R&R once the season is over. Looking forward to using a gift cert for a massage and spa treatment I received from our lovely and generous next door neighbors (I got the gift cert from them last year for my birthday). Yes, I know...it's taken me nearly a year to get around to finding the time to use it. I mean, it's not exactly something you want to drag your kiddos along to. KWIM?

MY DH was off in the Gulf today catching trigger fish and grouper and some 5ft long shark (not a nurse shark but can't remember what he recited off to me via cell phone). Happy he's getting some much needed and hard earned R&R AND I am oh so happy for Big Gma's taxi driving expertise this week as she's been awesome in chaffeuring the boys to and from their activities while I work. Thank you BIG GMA!!! You DA BEST!!!!

The Lil' ghosts of Christmases Past

Oh..my...stars! I opened up iPhoto this evening and came across these videos. (Insert BIG SIGH here). WOW. Time has time flown. No more little thermal underwear tops and snowy white hair. We've moved on to big guy pj pants now-in the realm of "Tony Hawk" and "Wii" pants. No room for Underoos in this household. No siree. Nothing but the latest and greatest in undergarment attire. Comfy. Trendy. Totally SCHnuggly. A momma can never outgrow a "snugfest" with her boys now, can she?

The Gideons...

...were passing out pocket-sized versions of the New Testament after the match on Tues. The BEBZ were excited to have one of their own to peruse. On the ride home, they spontaneously decided to quiz one another on bible verses and the process of looking up a verse within a chapter (I was pretty stoked about this). They were conversing amongst themselves when I hear Ethan say,

"Hey, is there a Table of CONTINENTS in this?"

(Such the goober. Love that dude)!

FRESH...

I went to a viewing of this last evening and found it quite interesting. I intend to spend more of our disposable income on local growers and local businesses; they are what is great about America after all.

Sustainable gardening has been on my mind. This movie has motivated me to consider planting a small garden for the boys and I to tend to. It's always fun to see the fruits of one's labor.

Recycling, reusing + repurposing has also been on my mind a lot more frequently in the past few years and even more so in the past few months.

Cleaning house this am and then off to tennis. Excited to have some family time with no major commitments to anything (except fun). A nice reprieve from the hectic, frustrating week I've had filled with teenage angst and drama. Ah coaching...the good, the bad, and the ugly! LOL

Facing the Giants

Well, apparently this movie was out in stores in 2007 but I recently saw a YouTube clip of it and thought it was great. So Mick brought it home last night and all of us sat down as a family + watched and discussed it together. I only wish there were more inspiring, clean movies out there for the boys to watch...and me too.

The Elusive Rainbow Polaroid...

..has finally found a home upon my shelf!!!

An Idea for our next Small Group Study

Mick and I watched the movie Fireproof awhile back and thought it was pretty good. The Love Dare was utilized throughout. NTS: Bring it up as topic for discussion at next meeting.

A little Happy Mail...

...arrived today! I won some digital templates off of Donna Downey's blog from Patty at the Digital Scrapbook Teacher. Thanks to both of them for the opportunity to win and the great digi stuff! I can't wait to play with the templates. (But, I guess, sadly, I'll have to wait a little bit as we're out of milk and I need to run to Wally-World for some groceries!)

Also, picked up some fun at Lexi's today. Some new papers and goodies from

Cosmo Cricket. Getting geared up for an upcoming Ya-Ya Weekend soon. Woohoo!!

When helping a neighbor goes awry...

...this is what can happen. And yes, that is the prop and lower portion of our less than 3-month old Sea Ray boat.

Let's just say that windy days + rocks +new boats don't = happy, memorable moments on the lake...

And let's just say my DH is one merciful hubby.

I tried to tell my hubby I am not:

"Grace Under Pressure."

...Nor am I "Cool, Calm and Collected Cathy."

...I'm more like "Spastic Suz."

You'd think after 14 years of marriage he'd know that by now, but apparently he's really good at blocking out all of my previous spastic episodes. (Or maybe...just better than me at forgiving and forgetting).

Yesterday was definitely a day where I knew my DH was fulfilling his marital vows in "for better or for worse."

Ahem.

90 years of coming together...

...to celebrate family. This past weekend we made the trip to my parents' hometown for our 90th family reunion. It was a gorgeous day and a very memorable weekend. SO good to see the cousins, the generations, the history, the ancestry. There was even a half page write-up in the local paper. Pretty cool. Over 200 family members were in attendance. Gma K would have been so happy and proud of it all. She especially would've loved the skit complete with our ancestors trek across the pond to their newfound homeland and FREEDOM. I wonder how happy or how sad they would be at all of the progress and all of the steps backwards that have occurred since they first set foot on American soil?

Makes me very reflective. Makes me want to know more about my ancestors. Their struggles and their successes. One thing is for sure...they were successful in leaving a legacy of people who care about their, country, their families, their community, their history.

A Great Giveaway...

is going on today at a friend's blog. you can click here to check it out. Good luck!