The End.....

....of some busy things in my life. If you know me even a little bit, you know that it is very hard for me to say No to activities and involvement, and very hard for me to sit still for more than 5 minutes at a time. But this week I said good-bye to two activities that have kept me extremely busy for the last couple of years.

I have been a member of my MOMS Club since September 2006. In July 2007 I became secretary, in July 2008 I was voted in as the AVP (in charge of Service Projects), and in July 2009 I was voted in as President. I have had a ton of fun in my board positions, but now, as of this month, I am simply a contributing member of MOMS Club. I am looking forward to the change. A great new group of ladies were voted in to board positions, and I know they will do a fantastic job of leading the chapter.

I have also been involved in Relay for Life since 1996, serving as a participant for the first couple of years, and then as Silent Auction chair since about 1998. In 2008 I was asked to be the Relay Event co-chair for 2 years, and it has been quite the ride. Soon after I began my co-chair position I had my brain aneurysm, so trying to deal with that along with planning the Relay was quite the challenge. But it's been a good two years, with two successful relays under my belt. Of course, the Spokane Relay for Life has been going strong for over 20 years, so I don't think I could have really messed it up too badly! But now, I'm done with that as well. There are two new chairs to handle the event for the next two years, and they will do an awesome job! Now, I can just be a contributing member of the planning committee, and concentrate on being team captain for my MOMS Club team.

So I'm feeling very relieved right now. It's going to be weird, not having those responsibilities on my plate anymore, but I think it will be a nice break. Austin starts kindergarten in the fall, Daniel goes back for Pre-K, and Gretchen starts her first year of preschool. So for three mornings a week, I won't have any kids at home. Wow! That will be a change! But one I'm looking forward to.

I'm mobile!

Well, kind of anyway. A very good friend of mine loaned me her laptop, and now I can be on the computer at the same time as hubby. It's nice to be able to sit in the living room, catch up on my dvr'd shows, and surf the web, too. I know, very "couch potato" but sometimes my days get so busy and full of things, having some couch potato time at night is very nice! I'll be able to update my blog on a more regular basis now, too. Yea!

New baby in the house

We have a new baby in the house! Yesterday around dinner time we took placement of a 3-month old baby boy. I found out today that it looks like he'll be placed with an aunt on Tuesday afternoon, after a court hearing. So we won't have him for very long. I don't know what is more of a challenge - taking care of an infant again, or keeping my own kids out of his little chubby face! They just want to surround him constantly, and I think he gets a tad overwhelmed! He slept ok last - down to sleep around 9 pm, up at 1:30 and 5 am for feedings, and up for the day at 8 am. This afternoon has been a struggle for him - I think he's realizing this is not home, and has been very fussy. But he's good right now - he's cooing to Gretchen while he is in his swing. Hopefully those coos won't turn in to screams!

Scrapbook Page

The kids went down to bed really easily tonight - they were all asleep very soon after tucking them in. So I took advantage of the quiet night, and the fact that Relay for Life is all done, and I spent some time in my scrapbook room. I'm slowly starting to get it all cleaned up and organized. We put one big floor to almost ceiling shelving unit in the room last weekend, and I was able to get a bunch of stuff organized and off the floor. I have another shelf to put in there, the same size, but that one will be for all my sewing stuff, mostly quilting. Hopefully before too long the room will be just as I want it!

Here's the scrapbook page I did tonight. I followed a sketch challenge on scrapbook.com.

Diamond Lake Gretchen
by Inkyscrapper
Scrapbook.com

I won a prize!!!

Remember this post? I just found out I won!!! Woo-hoo is right!!! I'm so excited, and can't wait to get the prize in the mail.

Now, go check out the sponsor's site - Blue Moon Scrapbooking and see what great items they have for your scrapbooking and paper crafting projects. Beautiful stuff!!!

Thanks so much to Lynette at Desperate Army Housewife and to Scott & Lisa at Blue Moon Scrapbooking for this incredible prize package!

Wedding Mints

My mom and dad came in to our house today to help make wedding mints for my brother's wedding. I can't believe that in all the years that my grandma was making wedding mints for family members, I never once helped her. This was my first time making the mints, but it was much easier than I thought. They hardest part was getting the color the mints to match the wedding colors exactly. Even my dad joined in and helped mold mints. It was a fun afternoon! After we were all done with mints, we enjoyed a great steak bbq dinner, complete with homemade potato salad and coleslaw. The weather even held out for the kids to go outside to play with James and my dad. All in all, a good day!

Cake, Batter and Bowl blog

Are you a fan of Ultimate Recipe Showdown on The Food Network? If so, do you remember Kerstin from the desserts episode? She has her own foodie blog, and it's got some great things on it. Right now, she is hosting a contest to giveaway a Thomas Keller Ad Hoc Cookbook. Go to her blogCake, Batter and Bowl to enter her contest. And peruse some of her recipes - they sound amazing, especially her dessert sushi ones.

Sunday Shutterbugs - Kiss

Another week, another photo theme! This time at Sunday Shutterbugs, the theme is Kiss. And I couldn't resist this photo of Daniel and I exchanging Eskimo Kisses. It was taken in June 2009 by my sister.

White Water Rafting

I joined a group of 26 other women from my church today for a white water rafting trip down the Spokane River. It was about a 5 mile or so ride, and my very first experience on the river like that. We went with a an outfit called Peak 7 Adventures and I think they did a really good job. I didn't fall out of the raft at all, but I did lose my foot grip going through the Bowl & Picher rapids, and ended up face planting in the middle of our raft. Better than dumping into the river! But it was fun, and something I would probably do again.

Wacky Wednesday

Today was Wacky Wednesday at preschool, so the boys dressed in some really crazy stuff!



We also decided to go to the Central Y to try out their pool today. The kids had a blast! They have a really cool water feature for kids, and we pretty much had it to ourselves. There were two kids there when we first got there, but they left after about 20 minutes. So the kids had a blast zipping down the slide and splashing in all the water features. I should have taken pictures, but didn't. Oh well, next time!

Busy Day and Monkey Bars

We had a busy day today. We started off with running to the grocery store, because I was missing a key ingredient to a pie I needed for my MOMS Club meeting. Then we zoomed over to the meeting, took care of business, and then headed to the park. The kids desperately needed to play off some energy! I had all the fixings for lunch in the car, so we just had a picnic in the park. Ahhh, that's better!

James has been working with Daniel on going across the monkey bars. Today, before I could get my camera out of my bag, he started zooming right across! I managed to catch the last half of it.



After the park, I headed over to my friends house to drop off the kids for a couple of hours so I could get some errands done. What a nice sanity break! Ever since my grandma died in November, I haven't gotten those. She was always so good about coming over to the house a couple times a week to play with the kids so I could get things done. In more ways than one, we really miss her! I miss just talking to her, and the kids really miss having her around to play with. She left a giant hole when she died.

After running errands, I picked up the kids and we headed out to the Y for a kids Zumba class. That was a lot of fun! The kids danced around, sometimes doing what the instructor did. I finally felt comfortable doing Zumba! The kids lasted about 3 songs, and then I took them down to the kids drop and play area so I could sign up for a personal training appt. and chat with my friends. Then we left and met James at Shakey's Pizza for dinner. Our church was holding a fundraiser there, and since we had been so busy, it was nice not to have to cook that night. They have great pizza and a fun play area for the kids.

After tucking the kids into bed, I headed out to a friend's house to help her with a quilt project. It will be a challenge, but I think a fun one. We'll see!

So, that was our day - busy as ever! Whoever termed the phrase "stay-at-home mom" was crazy - we never stay at home!

Menu Plan Monday

It's been a long while since I've posted my Menu Plan. Here goes!

Monday - Leftover Love - everyone gets to pick what they want for dinner!
Tuesday - Tacos and Fresh Fruit
Wednesday - BBQ Steak, Bakers, Roasted Cauliflower
Thursday - BBQ Chicken, assorted salads & fruit
Friday - Daddy Dinner - Mac-n-Cheese & Chicken Patties while Mommy goes out with her Bunco friends!
Saturday - Parade Picnic - our annual town parade and yummy food!
Sunday - Lasagna for Home Bible Fellowship night

Check out more than 290 other weekly menu plans over at Organizing Junkie - lots of great ideas!

Jump for Joy!

Over at
Sunday Shutterbugs, the theme this week is "jump". I couldn't resist putting up this photo of Austin jumping at Gearhart Beach, Oregon. We took our first family vacation there last August. I got some really great photos of all the kids jumping, but this one by far was my favorite.

Scrapbook Supply Giveaway - woo hoo!

Another great giveaway! You've got to hurry on over to Desperate Army Housewife blog and check out the Blue Moon Scrapbooking American Crafts Giveaway. Lots of great goodies are up for grab. I'm crossing all my fingers and toes hoping to win!

Bountiful Baskets now on the North Side!

You've seen me post about Bountiful Baskets here before, and how wonderful I think it is. Well, now they have a north side location - Salk Middle School on Francis & Alberta. Now you don't have to drive all the way up to the South Hill by 7 am to get involved! Check them out - you'll be glad you did!
Bountiful Baskets

Paper Crafting Giveaway!

Please check out In My Minds Eye blog for a great giveaway! She's got some fabulous patterned papers and decorative buttons to give to her readers. Here's a sneak at what she's giving away:

So go check her out!

This makes me crazy!

It is stories like this that make me so angry! I just don't understand how some people think!

Happy Easter!

Here is a little glimpse into our Easter celebrations. Decorating eggs and Grandma & Grandpa's house, church egg hunt, and Easter at our house with the family.

Another basketful of goodies!

I participated in Bountiful Baskets again this weekend, but this time, I didn't have to get up early to go get it! My friend Alyson picked mine up for me. Another great assortment of items: 1 pineapple, 1 canteloupe, 1 honeydew, 4 oranges, 9 apples, 5 bananas, 6 large baking potatoes, 1 bunch of radishes (9), 2 lbs. + 2 ind. carrots, and 1 head of leaf lettuce. Not bad for $16.50!

Operation Write Home

I found an interesting blog recently, I'm Crafty and they are participating in a Spring Break Blog Hop hosted by Operation Write Home. OWH's blog hop has links to 94 different blogs that participate in their card project - sending blank homemade cards to overseas troops, and sending messages of encouragement to them as well. Take a hop over to see what I'm talking about!