Birthday weekend

This weekend we had two birthdays to celebrate and they were both milestones. Cameron turned 13 and John turned 16. It's hard to believe Cameron is actually a teenager now, he still seems like the same little boy to me. We all joke as we're looking back at pictures that Cameron is the only one that hasn't changed much at all in the last few years. We got him an Ipod touch and some "big boy" clothes from Hollister, he put them on and looked so grown up.

John turned 16 and bought himself a car so he wanted money so he could buy gas! He's such an awesome kid, funny, nice and caring. Happy Birthday boys!!

Posing with Nancy

One more shot Cody... that's what Nancy said and I knew she had something fishy in mind. I had asked Cody to take some pictures of me and Nancy while we were at John's birthday party and of course I needed him to take quite a few until I was satisfied. Then Nancy said, wait Cody one more, then she made a grab for one of the "girls". It got quite a laugh from the family and a perfect shot of Nancy's sense of humor. That's why I love her!

Help me pick a picture!

Rachel took these pictures of me last night and I'm trying to decide which one is the best. The first one is a copy of one of the others and I did a little bit of photoshop action on it. I am definitely not a photoshop expert so I really didn't do too much to it. I'll be trying to have someone take more shots of me over the next week or so just to try to find the "perfect" picture that I'm searching for. Let me know what you think.

Hanging out with eachother

So it's not very often that we all manage to get together to do something as a family. Tonight we went go carting in Olympia as part of Cameron's birthday celebration. We're having a small party on Sunday but we wanted to do something as a family together also. The go cart track was pretty cool, the ride lasts 8 minutes and the track is pretty big. Cameron and Mike put on the actual racing suits they had there and I thought they looked pretty cool. Once they got on the track Morgan was all business and totally whipped all the boys, not too surprising, it was going to be either her or Jim because they are both super competitive. After go carting we went to Red Robin for dinner and Cameron was totally embarrassed when they sang to him, made him hold his ice cream up like a torch and hooked the balloons around his neck. He was giggling and blushing the whole time but I think he actually liked the attention a bit- it was pretty cute. We had a really nice time together and I'm glad we made the time to do it.

You say goodbye, I say hello...

So I cant help but notice I've picked up a few "regular" readers of my blog that I dont recognize. Please leave a little comment telling me where you come for, how you found me and what you like (or dislike!) about my blog. I was looking for the perfect picture of myself to put on this post and then realized, surprisingly, I don't have any perfect pictures of my

self! I've been on this amazing weight loss journey on Weight Watchers over the last 2 to 3 months and have actually lost weight this time so as I look back at my older pics I realize just how dissatisfied I am with all of them . So my project over the next week or so is to get one of my friends or family members to take some pictures of me that I will really love. So until that perfect picture comes along I will have to just settle for this cute one of me and this little sweetie, Ashley. I'm saying goodbye, now you say hello.....

Lots of Long Beach pages

During our 2004 trip to Long Beach I took a ton of pictures. Now I have the huge task of trying to get all of the different aspects of the trip scrapbooked. One of our favorite memories was the motel we stayed at- The Whales Tail. It was this dinky, old, not so nice motel right on the strip. It really needed an overhaul, the toilet in Richele's room actually leaned to the side when you sat on it. The funny this is though, we all loved that motel, warts and all. It had an old rec room with just a ping pong table in it and the kids spent hours in there playing. They had to go get the key from the old man that ran the motel every time until he finally just left it open for us. Every year when we go back the kids all ask to stay there again, I'm not so sure we ever will, it might spoil the memory of the time we had.

The Beach

Here are a couple of pages from out Long Beach trip in 2004. The kids had such a good time building sandcastles and playing in the waves. The weather was actually really nice that year, for once it wasn't super windy and cold. I'm not too happy with the page of Cameron, the pictures are pretty busy so they kind of get lost on the paper but I really wanted to use that particular paper. It's by Crate Paper and I love their products. I've been trying to make an effort to use up some of my old products so the two page spread has an older K&Co stickers and a laser die cut from at least 6 years ago. I think I bought it a the GASC with Rachel or some other convention. Jim put up some new lights in the Love Shack today so I can scrap at night without any of those pesky shadows. He's always thinking.

I can't believe they're Seniors

I can clearly remember Rachel and Kim as little girls stealing each others pacifiers and it seems like just yesterday. It's hard to imagine they are going to be graduating in just a few short months. Kim plans on becoming a dental hygienist and Rachel is planning on becoming a nurse. If I had to guess I would have thought they both would be lawyers, they sure know how to argue their points!! Both Nancy and I love this picture of the two of them, they've been fast friends since day one and I'm happy to see them both graduate from Yelm High School together. Love you girls!!

Finishing up the Love Shack

I have the sweetest husband. This Saturday he had to take Morgan to Tacoma for a volleyball tournament. It was an all day event so he used "lola" our GPS to find all the Fred Meyer stores within a reasonable distance. Then he proceeded to drive to each one until he found another console table for the Love Shack. We had already checked at both of our local stores and I had pretty much given up on having the second one so this was a total surprise for me. He brought it in the house and then told me it was a new computer desk until I got up to look at the box. Sweet!! Jim and Cameron spent the rest of the night putting it together and then we set it up in the Shack in the morning. It's perfect, it gives me that extra space to spread everything out that I was missing with just one. Love it, love it , love it. So to celebrate I scrapped two pages and finished the project Tiffany designed from the Tumwater crop. I love the page with the Schoenings, the pictures, the paper, everything. They are the greatest friends, we love them so much.

If you haven't checked Tiffany's blog lately pop on over there for a sneak peek at her March album kit. It's going to be super cute and totally unique. Order early before she sells out!!

Hello cupcake

I love these pictures of the kids and I just reprinted them to scrapbook this weekend if I can squeeze it in. This cup cake store is a little gem we found in downtown Tacoma across from Union Station. I took the kids to the Station to show it to them and admire the Chihuly glass art inside and as we were leaving we saw the sign for Hello Cupcake. The kids asked to stop and I figured what the heck, let's do it. The girl behind the counter was dressed so cute with an old fashioned dress, apron and matching headband. The cupcakes are to die for, every flavor you could ever want. And their stinkin" cute too!!

A few more pictures

Here are a couple more shots from our photo shoot last weekend. I wanted to put a bunch more on but the darn computer is way too slow this morning. Maybe later Have a happy Tuesday!!

ScrapTiffany unveils the first kit!

Please check out an awesome scrapbook kit at http://scraptiffany.com/

She has an awesome girlfriends kit for sale this month and great scrapbook project ideas. Congratulations to my wonderful friend on your new venture!!

My early Valentines Day surprise

So Last week I randomly mentioned to Jim that I saw a table at Fred Meyer that would work well for the Love Shack. It was waist height and would make it easier for me to crop standing up, something I learned from Tiffany. (and now I can ONLY scrap standing up) Jim mentioned a few days ago he had a surprise for me and I totally didn't think it had anything to do with this table or the Love Shack. Tonight when I came home he took me out to the Love Shack and had set up the new table , along with a really cute Azalea tree. He painted the eaves in the skylights a really pretty blue color too. I love it!! The table is perfect, it has drawers and a nice work space. Of course I'll have to put up a spare table when my girls come over to scrap. And Jim is already planning a side table or a second one of these for extra cropping space. I love the drawers and the storage underneath- it so sweet!

This year is our 10th valentines day together, something Jim remembered but I hadn't until he pointed it out. He's always been way better than me at the details of our relationship. I am simply lucky to have him as my husband, I never doubt he loves me and I know that we will always be together. I love you Jim!!

Last Sunday we took the kids out to Tumwater Falls park for a little family photo shoot. It's not too often we have all of them home together for the day so it was a nice change of pace. We also went to lunch and to see a movie so over all it was just a nice family afternoon. I'm struggling with this new camera of mine, I think I need to take a class or something. I like most of the pictures but some seem a bit "overexposed" or bright. I know there's a way to fix it but I'm just not sure how at this point. Anyway, enjoy the pictures and I'll keep trying!!

My Dad

Okay, so it's been a really long time since I posted anything. This week has been a little busy. Nancy had her surgery and is recovering well at home. She's an amazing woman, she had the mastectomy and went home the very next day. Talk about inspiring.
This picture is of my Dad and it was taken last summer. We were having our annual garage sale and he found this KISS hat. What is funnier than an 85 year old man in a KISS hat? Nothing!! I was looking through pictures and came upon the picture and couldn't resist a quick post. Enjoy the week!!