Y&T Week#5 layout

That was so fun to do! I can't wait to make more!

Yesterday and Today intro page

is nearly complete. I think I may add some stitching to it, but I am letting it sit a bit before I make the final decision. Note: The lighting wasn't great when I took the pics-but I'm not going to putz with trying to tweak them in Photoshop today. "I'm not gonna do it...Wouldn't be prudent!"

Quick Quiz: Name the comedian that spoke this quote while parodying what famous US President?

Leave your answer in the comment section below. You never know what you might win!

Zombies

I found this video to have a lot of truth in it. Although I think Bob Hope should have used the words "too many Americans" in lieu of just "Democrats."

Source for the Where the Wild Things Are Jack-o-Lantern

I found the photo of the WTWTA Jack-O-Lantern on Elsie's blog yesterday, and thought to myself that would be a really fun carving to do. Now, to just find the time to carve it!

Here' s the actual source link.

I Wanna Make This

A Treasure Trove Tub

After cleaning out my closet a week ago Sunday

I came across this:

And in it, these:

And look! They have friends:

And their friends have friends. Even the four-legged type.

And this little guy pulls on my heartstrings, repaired beak and all.

My Grandma loved birds. L-O-V-E-D them. Especially owls. I guess that's why I have a special connection with them too. Because they remind me of my Grandma, and that...

...that makes my heart happy!

Conquering the LEaning Tower...

...but not the ick. Being cooped up in the house for the past 3 days has led to some creative play. Here is the first achievement:

The question is: Which way does it lean? JK. I, of course, took the opportunity to make the assembling of the Leaning Tower a teachable moment, and as the boys did their research about Italy yesterday, they found out a few interesting facts about the tower.

• It was built in 1173 or 1174 (depending on which source one uses) by Bonnano Pisano (and was completed by Giovanni di Simone, Tommano Simone (son of Andreo Pisano) 90 years later
• It is located in Pisa, Italy
• It has been measured to sink 1 millimeter/year
• It takes 294 steps to get to the "Tootsie Roll Center of the Towering Pop" (Oh, excuse me, I mean top!)
• It was built in the Romanesque style

After the completion of the tower, I decided not to adhere to the recommendations and warnings of the instructions:

NOTE: The caution states that one should "Please put small leftover pieces into the garbage after finishing assembly."

I chose to disregard this caution, being a wee bit of a hoarder of all things "potentially craftable."

(The other caution said to "be careful not to let your children eat or put our products or the packaging into their nose or ear." Apparently, enough kiddos were left unattended long enough to warrant this caution being implemented).

Anyhoo, I took the bits of leftovers and crafted this:

World Conquerers

from the comfort of our sweet ole' home...

Homeschooling definitely has it's benefits: Like staying in your pj's all day while you learn about Ancient Greece and identify the countries and capitals of the Middle East.

This morning, Ian and I were reviewing great leaders of ancient civilizations. I asked him who Alexander the Great was. He remembered that he was the son of a king (ok, so we need to work on the exact king; Darius III of Mesopotamia) and that he was a great conquerer. We discussed that he had a city in Egypt named after him. This is where Ethan chimes in:

"WEH-ULLL...Mimi and Papa are ALMOST world conquerers!" (I'm sure they'll love to read this post!)

Ethan said this knowing that Mimi and Papa are soon to be taking another trip back to Egypt.

Only minutes later, Ian is working on some other geography-locating where various baseball teams are found, and he asks,

"Where is MONT-REAL?" (We joked that it took us back to previous incidents of putting the AC-cent on the wrong Sy-LA-BLE such as TOE-ma-toes instead of to-ma-toes! All of us got a few laughs over reminiscing over mispronunciations that each of us has spoken.

Finding Fall

Burning bushesPumpkin pancakes (use a little imagination here!)
crazy corn mazes
family fun. More pics to follow.

Where your hard earned money is being spent

It's sad how an individual's actions don't often match his/her words. This article is one that needs to be read by E-V-E-R-Y American.

And here's a quote by a true genius himself:

“The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it”

—Albert Einstein

We, as Americans, need to do something about it!

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!