7.31.2006

Photoshop Fun

Just a fun Photoshop Trick I learned today from SpragueBlog...

Productive


I have had a very productive day! I promised myself I would get the boys’ closet cleaned out this week. So I woke up this morning and decided to get it out of the way. Four hours and six huge trash bags later, it is finished. We ended up getting the whole room clean. I even went through all of Sam’s clothes and gave away what doesn’t fit her anymore. It is amazing what you can accumulate in just two years. We loaded it all in the van and already took it down to the donation center. Now I have a better idea of how many school clothes they need (or don’t need, really) and I won’t trip when I go into their closet to put their clothes away. Now my job for the week is done and I can play all week without any guilt (shhh…don’t tell my husband) That concludes the "excitement" for the day…

7.27.2006

Issues

Last night I took the kids to Hido (one of those Japanese Hibachi Restaurants where they cook the food in front of you) with Big Mamma, Big Daddy, Jenny, Sofie and Bobbie. The boys were having a great time…Sam was not. She is having a hard time splitting “her boys’” attention with another friend. She was hiding under the table and flipped her chair over at one point. Once the chef came out and started making the dinner, things improved dramatically. All the kids thought it was great and he was a really good sport with the kids. They loved all the fires and egg tossing, but their favorite part was when he threw the chicken up in the air for them to catch in their mouths. All the boys caught theirs, but Sam refused to participate (she said she was too embarrassed). Sam would not allow me to use my chopsticks, because she was too upset that she couldn’t master them herself. That girl has issues.

Today, the boys played and played and played. Then after lunch I took all the kids swimming over at Big Mamma’s house. They swam for close to three hours. They should sleep well tonight.

7.26.2006

A Visitor


Our long awaited visitor has arrived! The boys have anxiously and not so patiently been looking forward to Jack’s visit. He is a close friend of our’s from Singapore. They are so excited about all the fun they are going to have over the next few days.

It continues to rain and rain and rain here. Jack’s flight was delayed a few hours because of it. He was flying as an unaccompanied minor, so his mother and I were worried about how he would do. Shauna walked him to his gate and watched as the plane pulled out. What she couldn’t see is that the plane taxied around the corner and then sat on the runway waiting for approval from Houston to take off for over an hour. It took so long that the plane had to taxi back over to the hanger and refuel. Finally after a three hour delay, the plane was able to take off. He had a short delay once the plane landed and arrived around 1:45. He seemed pretty happy to see someone he knew when he stepped off the plane.

The boys have been running around all afternoon, playing PS2, watching movies, riding bikes (in between the drizzle), shooting BB guns and trying to avoid the wrath of the four year old sister. Should be a fun weekend!

The layout sketch is by Jen Caputo and the paper is by Ping Designs. I scraplifted the idea from Raven Edwards.

7.25.2006

layout

This was my second attempt (the first one was lost when Photoshop froze up). Not sure I like it, but I wasn't going to do it a third time!

7.24.2006

Jericho Mile



It’s Monday morning and I can hardly remember where the weekend has gone!

On Saturday morning I was in charge of the Jericho Mile Fun Run at our church. Eric Pearson handled all the run section and I was in charge of the food and decorations. It ended up being a really fun event despite the overwhelming heat and humidity. We had about 40 people who ran the race. Ryan Pearson just barely edged out Pat Dutton to win it with a smoking 6.10 minute mile. My Josh did pretty well and took first place for the primary kids with a 8.30 minute mile. I had ordered 21 dozen donuts from Shipley’s for breakfast. They were tasty, but that was way too many donuts. We ended up giving away two dozen donuts to each of the three families that had their whole family in the race. We still ended up taking home around five dozen donuts. Oh well, live and learn.

7.20.2006

Big Brother



I am just whiling away my afternoon, playing around on my computer and such...Here is another digital scrapbook page I finished. The digital sketch is by Jen Caputo and the paper is by Heather Ann Designs.

7.19.2006

A Break

This morning I woke up late and then watched some TV in bed. It is summer, and I need to take advantage while I can. I finally dragged myself out of bed when I heard Sam’s blood curdling scream. She was freaking out because the boys weren’t letting her play PS2 and crying about wanting to go back to Gamestop and pick out a game of her own. There goes my hopes of a PS2 induced peaceful remainder of the summer.

Josh lucked out and was invited over to a friend’s house while Helmut, Sam and I went to the grocery store. Helmut is home this week, so he expects dinner. We ended up having a very yummy Rachel Ray Thai Pork and Noodle Salad.

I did get a much needed break from the kids today. Sarah and I left the kids with Helmut and Madison while we went to the Memorial City Mall. She needed new clothes for her trip and I went along for the ride. I have come up with the best money saving technique. If you go to the mall with your body all unshowered and your hair all greasy, nothing looks good on you and you don’t buy anything. Sarah, on the other hand, did find some cute things for her trip. I came away from our shopping trip realizing that just because it is summer, that doesn’t mean I can stop showering…testing, testing, testing

7.18.2006

Trading Up

I took the boys to Gamestop today and they traded in all their Gamecubes, controllers, games, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Advance, carrying cases, cables, etc., etc. They both wanted to go back to the Playstation 2 system that we had few years ago. I was a little worried that I might have to make up the large difference between what they needed and what they got. But every once in a while, something happens that restores my faith in the consumer world. They got $250.00 in store credit for their stuff! They were able to buy the new gaming system, a few accessories and two games and they still had over a hundred dollars in credit left. For the next few days they will be playing a lot of MLB the Show and Cabela’s Hunting. Once they master those, we can go down and get some more. Summer is nearing it’s end, and I think we have found our gap stop measure!

7.17.2006

Digital Scrapbooking


I have been dabbling in the digital scrapbooking world for a while now and thought I would post my latest project. I used a digital sketch from Jen Caputo, which made it a whole lot easier. The paper is from Two Peas in a Bucket.

Garage Sale

We had a big garage sale at the in-laws over the weekend. Helmut was the instigator of the whole thing. He loves a garage sale. I, on the other hand, would rather be almost any place else. He was selling stuff left and right. At one point I brought over all my old maternity clothes to sell. A family with a young teenager walked up and he turned to the teenager and said, “if you’ve got any friends that are pregnant we’ve got some great maternity clothes for just 50 cents a piece.” Clearly, he needs some lessons on what is appropriate to say and was is not. Overall, the garage sale was a success. We got the inlaws garage cleaned out and she earned enough money for a new ceiling fan and a new garage door. We made a little money as well and made a lot more space in some of our closets.

7.12.2006

Gummi Bears


I have recently rediscovered my love of the gummi bear. Sam picked them out at the store as her “pool treat.” They were so tasty cold right out of the cooler, so now we are keeping them in the frig. I know other brands turn rock hard when they are cold, but the Brach’s brand doesn’t. As I was getting one out for Sam yesterday (okay…for myself), I actually looked at the gummi bear and it got me thinking.

I can see a candy chef coming up with a gummy blob of tasty, colorful candy. The part that seems odd to me is that they would then decide to mold it into the shape of a bear and that would make everyone want to buy and eat it. I always wonder how those types of Ad Agency meetings go.
I flashed back (I must be getting old because that is the second time in one week) to my preteen years when flipping the collar of your Izod/Polo shirt was really cool. The rage was to lick the back of a gummi bear and stick it right next to your Izod/Polo logo and wear it there all day. I don’t remember if we ever actually ate those gummy bears or just threw them away at the end of the day. At the time I assumed it was a worldwide fashion craze. When I started thinking about it last night, I wondered if everyone did that or if it was only going on it my little world. Let me know if you think I am crazy.

FYI> In order to be completely thorough with my Gummi Bear entry, I did some research on the history of the Gummi Bear…

The Gummy Bear originates from Germany where it is hugely popular under the name Gummibär ("rubber bear"). The German company Haribo from Bonn first produced bear-shaped sweets in 1922 and introduced its Gold-Bear product in the 1960s. The success of Gummy Bears has spawned many gummy animals and objects: worms, frogs, hamburgers, cherries, cola bottles, sharks, apples, oranges, and even gummy ampelmenn. Many knockoff gummy bears are available on the market. Trolli is a well-known knockoff gummy candy manufacturer and was the first to introduce "gummi worms" in 1981.

7.11.2006

Cybil

I swear, sometimes I think we are living in this house with a four year old Cybil. Sam woke up in an okay mode and went down hill from there. There was lots of crying, screaming, whining, fighting, yelling, etc. By 2:30 PM I could not take it anymore and made the entire household sit on their beds for an hour. She was not happy about that at all. She fell asleep and woke up an hour later. She was laughing, cracking jokes, smiling, hugging, kissing, and giggling. By tonight, she was back to her evil twin again. As I tucked her into bed, I kissed her and told her I loved her. Her reply was, “I don’t love you very much.” Calgon, take me away!!!!!!!!

7.10.2006

Relish

We had a fairly quiet day around our house. Helmut left for Borger today and won’t be back until Thursday night, so all the pressure is off. No meals to cook and no need to REALLY clean until Thursday. I took the kids swimming at the YMCA with the Jones and Pearson clan. Carrie, Sarah and I baked in the sun for a full three hours. It was pretty hot and miserable, but I was trying my best to enjoy the process. I applied my SPF 45 sunscreen at least three times, but probably should have done twice that much. I am feeling burned tonight, but not fried. Sam, on the other hand, is not fairing as well. I put tons of sunscreen on her as well, but her little cheeks are VERY pink. She has blisters on about seven of her toes.

I cannot tell you how much I love the baby Wal-Mart (it is actually a Neighborhood Wal-Mart that the kids nicknamed the baby Wal-Mart to distinguish it from the Wal-Mart Super center). I ran to the store this morning to pick up a few things. I was contemplating whether to buy the small vlasic jar or the large store brand jar of sweet relish when the large jar slipped out of my hand, bounced off the cart handle and crashed to the floor. Sweet relish and glass went everywhere. All of the sudden I flashed back to high school. (This is really getting off the subject, but a good story. My sister and I had stayed after school for Drill Team and Flag Corp practice when I started feeling really sick. We told the director and Jenny was walking me to the parking lot to take me home. All of the sudden I could not fight the urge any longer and threw up all over the hallway just in front of the student center. I just sat there mortified. Jenny snaps me out of it with, “don’t just stand there like you are the one who did it, let’s get out of here.” She was always a little quicker on the draw than I was. I was so thankful for a big sister at that moment.) So I am standing in the Wal-Mart pickle aisle once again mortified. I am now 34 and realize I should go find someone to clean it up. The two nicest Wal-Mart worker ladies came over and cleaned it up. They assured me over and over again that it was no big deal and would not let me help clean it up. I love the baby Wal-Mart. Low prices and great customer service.

7.09.2006

Santone

Back to our trip to San Antonio…we had a great time and ate our way from one corner of the city to the other. We ate at El Taco Tote (great corn tortillas and a salsa bar “on crack”), Los Barrios, The Longhorn Café, Rudy’s, Whataburger (in her birthplace Corpus Christi), Wendy’s, etc.

We went to the outlets in San Marcos twice and got some great deals on Jimmy’z jeans and tees. We hit the flea markets and saw all kinds of interesting sights. The kids’ favorite was the man selling centipedes, tarantulas, snakes, scorpions, lizards and more. The collage contains a crazy picture of him with a scorpion on his nose, a boa around his neck and tarantula in his hand! We left the market with the worst three toys for sale: a LOUD play cell phone that sang in Japanese, a laser pointer (which I am constantly worried is going to blind someone) and a BB gun shaped like a pistol. Talk about a momentary lapse of parental judgment! We also went to Market Square and picked up some Mexican pastries and candy. Matt let the boys shoot off his paintball gun and Sam and Lucas played in the kiddy pool. On the fourth of July, we waited for the torrential downpour to stop, and then set off fireworks in a constant drizzle.

The highlight of the trip was our trip to the coast. Matt and I had discussed driving to Corpus Christi to give the kids a chance to play at the beach. Once we told the kids of our plans, there was no going back on our word. We woke up bright and early on Monday morning and threw on our swimsuits and packed the car. As we are walking out the door we realize it is very overcast. We consulted Yahoo! Weather and realized there was a 90% chance of rain on the coast. We had some naysayers in the group, but I would not be deterred. The closer we got to Corpus, the darker the sky got, but I was still determined to have fun. We decided to go a little further to Port Aransas in hopes of a cleaner beach. We hopped the fairy and four wheeled our way to a nice clean public beach. We played in the rain and the ocean for the next three hours and loved it. The water was warmer than the air, but the kids had a blast. I would have preferred a sunny day, but we made the most of it, and I think it turned out to be a pretty great day. I can’t wait to go again.

Thanks Matt, Maria and Lucas for a great week!

7.06.2006

Rockstar: Supernova

We just got back from a weeklong trip to visit my brother Matt, his wife Maria and their son Lucas in San Antonio. I have lots of fun pictures to share and stories to tell, but I am trying to get unpacked and the house back in order. I had to share this crazy unrelated story really quick.

Those who know me really well, know that I am a TV junkie and more specifically, a reality TV junkie. I have my reality TV favorites (Amazing Race, Survivor, American Idol, etc.) but I will watch almost anything. Last night was the new season premiere of Rockstar: Supernova, The Tommy Lee Project. I watched Rockstar: INXS last summer and loved it! I am a bit of a closet rocker girl. I will also admit publicly that I watched the Tommy Lee reality show last summer about him going back to college (I wasn’t kidding when I said I will watch all things reality TV). Tommy Lee was actually funny and likable. So when I heard he was going to be on the new Rockstar series I was excited.

Helmut and I sat down to watch the first episode last night. (For those of you who watch American Idol…this is totally different. The “rockers” are a bit older and have usually been working at making a rock and roll career for themselves for 10+ years. They can sing and perform well.) Each of the fifteen “rockers” was introduced in a short video before they sang. “Rocker” number ten or so comes up and she is from Houston. Hmmm…interesting. They show her and tell about how she is from South Africa…hmmm, she looks really familiar. It hits me…she was at our garage sale about 18 months ago. Crazy, I know. She and her mother were walking by (which now has me wondering if she or her mother lives in our neighborhood) and stopped by. She wasn’t your normal suburban type (lots of tats, piercings, and wild hair), but she was really nice and chatty. She mentioned that she had recently moved here from South Africa and was pursuing her singing career. She told us about a club she was singing at that weekend and gave us her website address. Bizarre coincidence…I am rooting for her, she is a little extreme (if you saw the show you know what I mean), but hey, she’s been to my house! Go Dilana!