Rainbow Sherbert Inspiration

I have organized for the Tahoe Trip album and am so excited. This is my first ever album to focus on one event and I am going to have the entire album color coordinated. So I first started with this fabulous paper pack I just got.

The color combination, I never would have considered but I love how it looks and I have decided to name it Rainbow Sherbert. Orange, green, raspberry and an ice blue. So pretty. Not sure the colors come across on the photo as good as they look in person.

The pack came with some stickers and then I happened to have some other ones that will match up nicely.

Then I went through all my embellishments and pulled out all these to coordinate with the papers and stickers. Brads, eyelets, inks, ribbons, threads, flowers and more!

And finally I found a bunch of inspiration pages to use for layout ideas and sketched some ideas on the post-it notes. This helped with my photo order so I knew what I wanted as 4x6 or 5x7.

I am so excited to get started. And amazingly am feeling much better about the job thing too! See, my logic did work!!

The Logical Choice

Feeling a bit overwhelmed with life at the moment. My mind has been racing with doubts of what in the world have I gotten myself into. Becoming a working-mom? WHAT WAS I THINKING?????? My emotions have gone from the high of feeling excited that somebody saw me as employable and approached me with this opportunity and how great it was going to be to crashing to the lows of mommy guilt (because really, is there anything lower than that!!) of putting my baby in childcare and missing my big girl's first day of school.


So what do I choose to do to help with this problem, you may ask yourself?

Step back from some of the other commitments I have made with pre-school co-op, PTA, soccer coaching......? NO

Get a handle on the house by cleaning, doing laundry and getting meals in the freezer for the next month? NO

Wrap up some on-going projects that haven't gotten completed? NO

Start studying up on the lesson plans and training materials for the job? NO

Of course, it is none of those options. I go with the logical choice, of course!!! Reorganize my scrapbook room and get started right away on my Lake Tahoe trip album. Because, of course, the best thing to do at this moment is to start another project to take up my time and attention. I am sure you all see the logic!!!

Pictures to follow in the upcoming days of my reorganization (after I make another trip to Ikea for a few more items) and inspirations for the album!!! If you don't see the post in the next few days, just assume that the complete nervous breakdown occurred!

Muffin Tin Monday

Well, this Monday we are driving 12 hours back from Montana in one day so the muffin tin meal was not an option. We had a wonderful long weekend in Bozeman, visiting with family and enjoying our old college "stomping grounds".

So instead I am sharing our Muffin Tin from last Monday since I never got it posted. I wish I was posting on the Rainbow Theme that Katy has suggested for this week. I am looking forward to seeing everyone's creative ideas!

We were going to be out for the day so we did a breakfast sampler to get the morning started. The girls seemed to enjoy it and ate better than my previous picnic one. Not my healthiest entry, but it was quick and easy! yogurt, trix, orange juice, waffles, syrup, bananas

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On a side note, I am still waiting for our lazy and relaxing summer to begin. Our travels should be coming to end so that should free up some time, but I have taken on a part-time job that will start in September and will require training for quite a few hours in the upcoming 6 weeks that will keep us busier than I had intended. But I really want to commit to doing some fun things with the girls, so I figure if I blog some of my ideas, maybe I will be more accountable for them!!

• local farm visits
• photo shoot at the beach (I have some great dresses I have been saving for this event)
• canvas flag project
• Olympic bike parade party
• teddy bear picnic at the park
• Larry Gets Lost in Seattle field trips
• fun in local fountains
• local outdoor concerts
• purse making out of old pants
• and so much more

And then there are all the personal projects I want to accomplish in the upcoming six weeks but I will save that for later posts!!!

The Elusive Dragonfly

A goal in my life is to get the perfect picture of a dragonfly. Today I made a few attempts. Not the best but they are a start. I am seeing myself justifying a better zoom lense just to accomplish this task!!

Bye Bye Crib

After 6 years, 1 month and 4 days it was time to say good-bye to our crib. I have been putting it off as long as possible by having Nora sleep in it with the front railing off as a toddler bed but I guess it was time. We had a garage sale today and I am sure (or at least I hope) it went to a good home where it will be well used. I wasn't quite prepared for the rush of emotion as I watched it get loaded onto the truck. I think back to all the wonderful times watching my babies sleep and all the frustrating times trying to get them to sleep. I wish I could go back in time to cherish those moments more instead of trying to rush through them in a constant panic. As they get older and life gets busier and more complicated I realize how wonderful and simple those times were and I miss them. But no sense dwelling in what is gone. Time to look forward to all the new adventures in our life. Madison soon will be a first grader and Nora will begin the pre-school experience. And it is looking like I will be going back to the working world. Well, just 10 hours a week, but all these things together will be a new step for our family as we continue to grow and change. I am hoping I can stop to enjoy the simple moments we have these final 6 weeks of summer before all the craziness begins.

Lake Tahoe Trip

We have been home for 4 days and I still feel like I am recovering from the trip. Overall, it was really fun. The weather was fabulous. You know you live in the Northwest, where you haven't had a warm and sunny day in a full 9 months, when your 6 year old pulls out the shirt she is wearing for the first day of the trip and squeals in delight "Oh, a top-tank!" It has been so long she forgot that it was called a tank-top!!!

The drive time was a bit longer than expected but went very well. All of my activities for my 6 year old were worthless since she has caught a major reading bug and had her nose in a book the entire time we were driving, even when videos were playing!! My 3 year old got a bit frustrated with the fruit loop necklace, you forgot that things are more complicated while sitting in a carseat 5 point harness. So I strung the necklace and she enjoyed eating it. She really liked the puppets and animal magnet boards the best. The girls were real troopers! Can you believe we didn't hear "are we there yet?" one time???? Oh, well I guess I should report we heard lots of "are we at the campsite," "are we in Oregon still" "are we in California yet," "when will we be home"............

We enjoyed our time in Tahoe but could have used another day or two for more exploring! If you want to be bored with more photos click here to see my flickr slideshow of just a few of the hundreds of photos from the trip!

We turn around next week to drive for my family reunion in Montana. I will be ready to not sit in the car for a LONG time after that!!!

California Wildflowers

Muffin Tin Monday

Here's this weeks lunch. We took it outside for a picnic. I expected it to be perfect with the girls enjoying lunch while I got some gardening done. But as soon as they got outside they got distracted by bugs, flowers, bikes, and more. So lunch was barely touched and then 2 hours later I had hungry girls. Oh well, live and learn!!!!

Cucumber sticks, Ham, peanut butter panda puffs

graham crackers, yogurt, strawberries

Road Trip Numbers

• 1789 miles driven
• 37 hours 48 minutes riding in the car
• 7 nights in the camper
• 21 family members visited
• 9 volcanoes driven by
• 3 camp sites
• 40 animals viewed
• 28 state license plates
• 15 chapter books read by Madison
• 3 great books read by Lisa
• $4.79/gallon highest gas price
• 98 degrees highest temperature
• 2+ bottles of sunscreen used
• 1 very close call on gas crisis (pulled into gas station with car computer saying 0 miles left until empty!)
• infinite - the memories, smiles and laughs shared with family

Toy Review - Snap Circuit

Madison got this for her birthday and it is a WONDERFUL gift! Click on the photo to link to Amazon for a full description since mine won't do it justice. It allows your child to become their own electrical engineer. All the pieces snap onto the basic circuit board. I was pretty skeptical about how easy this would be as we have had other toys that are to snap together and it is very tricky for the girls to master. But this is completely doable for my 6 year old daughter and even my 3 year old can do it a bit. There are LOTS of pieces to this and it is vital you don't lose any but they all come arranged on a very nice tray with special slots for each piece so you can quickly see if something is missing. There are switches, lights, sensors, alarms, speakers and MORE to make all sorts of electronic creations like musical doorbell, police siren, water alarm and many more!!! The book gives 100 different things to make and a color coded picture (the pieces are also color coded) to show you how to build it. Some my daughter can do independently and a few she needs a little assistance. This is a huge Daddy Hit too! He enjoys building the items with her. This is a big hit in the house for both parents and kids! I will definitely be giving it for gifts in the future. The kit I have featured is the jr. kit and would be great for 5-7 year olds. There are some more advanced kits that give more pieces and you can add to your set as you go.