My Weblog

Catching up

Well, we're tired so I guess that must mean we've been busy doing something.  Joe is still getting applications in and he works hard on those all day.  Unfortunately, with the contraction of lenders in the sub-prime market and with borrowers whose FICO scores are in the dirt, he has to put in a lot of work to get a deal to come together.  We are sure not rolling in the bucks around here.  In fact, I had intended to apply for a rather low-level (and hopefully low-stress) job at the University but that has not panned out.  First, I found that the application is an on-line thing and the website is one of the least user friendly web sites I've ever been on.  Then, I found that the information they are asking for is extremely detailed and that, in conjunction with their crappy web site design, makes the process incredibly time consuming.  The fact is that I thought I had run out of time to apply.  Then, when I checked again, the application period had been extended by 5 days.  So, I started work on the thing again.  Then, I just got stumped on one part of the application.  They wanted a detailed breakdown of how the applicant's time was allocated between duties on each job.  Well, when you're head of a department, it's pretty hard to do that.  Worse, I may decide to apply for something that was an incidental use of time and, therefore, not previously included in the time allocation.  So, how do I deal with that?  I was still struggling with that when I discovered that what Jennifer is forwarding me is not just job listings for the University, but job listings for the state and the job I was trying to apply for was in Northern Nevada.......LONG (400 mile) commute!  I don't think so.......  So, I'll keep watching what she forwards and perhaps I'll find something a bit closer.....  But, in the meantime, I don't have to fool with that silly application again for a little while.

I've been busy in the evenings.  Jennifer is teaching a class at the Law School and I'm babysitting the boys.  They are good boys, but there are a few other complications that make it all more difficult.  My agreement on doing this was that Jason would use the nights I'm babysitting to run at the gym.  That would give him two free evenings and me an easier time of babysitting.  We're at half and half on that one.  Monday evening, we picked the boys at Day Care and then went straight to Jen's house.  Jason had apparently just arrived home from work.  Joe lifted the baby out of the car (in his car seat) and sat him down on the driveway while we gathered up all the "stuff" that came home with him--bag of food, bag of dirty diapers, bag of clean diapers, etc., and helped Will gather up his stuff.  The baby started to fuss and Jason picked him up and carried him off.......  I didn't see him again for quite a while.  I made good use of the time and warmed a bottle, found his food, a baby-sized spoon, etc, and took Will out in the backyard where there's good light to take some pictures.  Jason stuck his head out to say something, went back in , and locked the door.  Will and I pounded on the door for quite a while before Joe heard us and let us in.   I got Atticus back and fed him because Jason went out to get pizza which we'd intended on buying for Will and just the two of us.  With the addition of Jason, we needed two pizzas.  We didn't intend for him to pay, but as he was the pickup and delivery guy, it ended up that way.  Soon enough, bath time for Atticus rolled around.  I sent Will in to start the bath water and proceeded to undress the baby.  Well, I guess I didn't get in there fast enough to turn off the water and when I sent Will in there, Jason was unhappy, blaming Will for drawing enough water to drown the baby!  Hardly!  And, like I'm going to take my eyes off of that baby to let him drown?  I don't think so.  And besides, it was my fault, not Will's.  I managed to arrive in the bathroom with a naked baby just in time to interrupt all that, thank heavens.....  Atticus had a good time in the bathtub, laughing and splashing.........except when Jason entered the room.  Then, since he knows Jason better than me, he would fuss.  As soon as Jason would leave the room, Atticus would be all giggles again.  Got the little guy out of the tub and all dried off and took him in on Jason and Jennifer's bed to dress him and Jason showed up.  Atticus was going to crawl over to Jason and when I laid him back down, he started to cry.  Jason just stood there watching me.  Honestly, Jason, I've done this baby dressing thing a few thousand times before--I don't need close supervision!  But, Jason stayed to supervise which made the baby cry because he wanted his Daddy, and I kept trying to dress this crying kicking baby.  Shortly, Jason announced "I've never seen him SO upset!"  Yeah, well, hearing THAT made me feel good, Grandma, The Baby Torturer.......    Jason took him as soon as I got him dressed and kept him for quite a while.  So, I got Will going on his bath.  Finally I got Atticus back and was ready to take the two boys into Will's room.  But Atticus's bottle had disappeared.  I'd undressed him in the living room and had left the bottle on the arm of the loveseat.  It was found later in the bathroom.  I wonder how it got there.......  I finally had baby, bottle, and older brother and we all went and laid down on Will's bed  where they went to sleep.  First night of babysitting at Jen's house complete--Yay!

Tuesday night, about 8:20PM, I was sitting here at the computer in my nightgown when the phone rang.  It was Jennifer, calling on her cell phone--unusual for her to call at that time of night--bedtime for the boys--and even more unusual for her to call on her cell phone as opposed to the home phone.  She was at the Pediatric Emergency Room at Sunrise Hospital with Will who had banged his head on the counter in the bathroom and opened up a big (about an inch wide and layers and layers deep) cut just below his left eyebrow.  I guess it had bled like crazy, and, of course, it hurt.  Poor little guy, his big fear was that he might die from having a head injury.  I knew immediately where that thought came from, but when I repeated that to Joe, he thought it was weird and that Will was really overreacting.  Later, Jason commented on the same thing!  Men!  I still think they're ALL brain damaged!  It didn't occur to either of them that a little over a year ago, Jason had a head injury and almost died........  I'm sure the fear was quite real in the boy.......  Anyway, Jennifer was at the ER and Jason had called her saying the baby was hungry.  Well, there are bottles in the fridge and freezer.......  But, she'd run out of the house with Will, I'm guessing right after he'd had his bath.  Will had no shoes, no shirt, nothing to pass the time in the ER.  And, Jason had locked his keys in his truck.  Apparently he'd locked his keys in the truck earlier.  He'd stopped to pick up dinner and when he got home, locked both dinner and the keys in the truck.  Jennifer went out with him with her set of keys so he could get both dinner and the keys out of the truck, but apparently he'd only picked up the food and relocked the truck, leaving his keys in there.  So, she needed me to go pick up the baby, a shirt for Will, shoes for Will, a book for Will, a book for her, and Olfa--Will's stuffed dog--and bring them to the hospital.  By the time I got dressed, Joe had arrived home from his signing, so we took off, stopped by and picked up everything from Jason (except he'd forgotten to gather up any books) and headed for the hospital.  The "hungry" baby fell asleep in his car seat within 5 minutes of the house.........  We delivered everything to Jennifer at the ER and took a look at Will's owie.  He did quite a number on himself!  They were going to do stitches, but Jennifer was concerned about scarring, so they had to glue 5 layers back together.  We saw him last night--he has tape over the glued wound and it is a bit swollen.  He's going to have a pretty good shiner, I think, but other than all that, it will be fine.  Funny--the "glue" is water soluble so Will can't take a bath for two days til the wound has had enough of a chance to heal.

So, last night, we were on duty again.  We picked up the kids at Day Care and decided to stop and get dinner at Marie Calendar's.  Atticus fell asleep in his car seat within 2 miles of Day Care and I let him sleep through most of dinner.  Then, I was afraid if I let him sleep any longer, he'd wake up in the car and scream the whole way to Jen's house because he was hungry.  So I woke him up.  He ate like a champ.  He had cottage cheese (everything I could scrape from the container), baby food (everything I could scrape from the container), a few bites of Grampa's cornbread (which is delicious cornbread but which, for some reason, Atticus didn't like).  He even ate a few bites of chopped pears.  Then he was hungry.  I ended up giving him a taste of decaf coffee by putting a straw down into my cup, putting my finger over the top, putting the straw in his mouth, and taking my finger off the top of the straw.  Then we hit on the coffee creamer, which was half and half.  He had one of those little plastic containers full of half and half using the straw and was satisfied.  So, we headed to the house.   Grandpa got Will into bed which didn't involve a whole lot since no bath was allowed.  I let Atticus creep around for a while because I was warming a bottle.  Then he saw his father and started to cry--Jason, of course, picked him up and carried him around for a while.  I went to check on Will and he was still awake, so I stayed with him, trying to get him to settle down.  Then Jason brought Atticus in and I tried to get him to sleep.  Nothing doing!  He rollled from side to side and really pestered Will, so I brought him back out.  So Jason took him and played some music on the radio and sang to him for a while, and I went back in with Will.  Jason brought Atticus back in and we tried again.  Finally, he went to sleep and so, thankfully, did Will

Today is Will's first day at his new school.  I am so hoping he got enough sleep.  He doesn't do well on little sleep, and a new school, new teacher, new kids--well, that's all pretty daunting to a little guy.  And, of course, the three of them, Jennifer, Will, and Atticus were at the ER til midnight Tuesday night.....

So, we're having fun!  Actually, I love the time I spend with the boys.  Will is sweet and SO helpful.  He told me last night he was really glad it was his head that got bumped and not Atticus's because maybe Atticus would have died if he'd bumped his head like that.  My response was that neither of them would die if they had a bump on the head like that, but that I didn't want EITHER of them to get hurt.  And Atticus is like Little Mr. Sunshine.  He was chowing down like a champ at the restaurant last night and so darn cute that all the folks at the surrounding tables were turned around watching him and smiling.  It was really funny how much attention he got from the simple acts of eating and bouncing around in the high chair waiting for the next bite to be shoveled in! 

Well, it's taken quite a while to type all this out, hours, in fact, so I'm going to post some pages and get on with my day.  Hope your day is blessed!

There's no way to know what was going on in Atticus's mind when I snapped this photo, but maybe this is a fair approximation. I used Daydreams by Lena Brandenburg for this layout. Daydreams is available exclusively at ACOT. I also used a template by Ronee Parsons.

Found this old photo in the box we unearthed this weekend. There's no date on this photo, but I'd peg it about 1964. I used Amanda Rockwell's Tastey paper, slightly recolored, available at Funky Playground Designs Tastey Paper Pack . The butterfly is from her Sparkle element kit. The flowers are from Amanda Rockwell's new kit called Flower Punch. Sparkle and Flower Punch are both available at amandarockwell.com and are on sale 6/12/07. The yellow lace is by Traci Sims. The cardboard is from Eve Recinella. The alpha is by Carrie Stephens. I also used a "bended" photo frame from Jennilyn Designs.

DH will never grow up. As soon as the camera comes out, he starts making faces and clowning around like a 7-year old. This time, he decided to turn his glasses all askew. When will he learn? I used LaWanna Desjardin's new kit, Sons and Fathers, available at OScraps. I also used stitching and paper flowers by Dani Mogstad. The scalloped paper was created using a template by Jan Crowley.

Found these old photos in a box that had been stashed somewhere out of DH's way. I figured they should be scrapped--after all, how many people had an Aunt who was a minister as far back as the 40's? I used the new customer appreciation kit, Sunwashed Linens, available, free with an $8 purchase, at NDISB for the page.

We visited Mission Santa Barbara last fall. We've found with our mission visits that one thing that is remarkable about them is their lovely courtyard gardens. So far, we've visited 3 missions, and I think Mission Santa Barbara is our favorite. There is such beauty and a sense of peace in the garden there. I used Cindy Simon's kit called Fieldwork for this layout. The alpha is from her kit called Lucky Me. Both are available in her store at NDISB.  Edited to add:  Cindy has since taken a break from designing.

This is a photo of my mother. My guess is it was taken sometime in the late 30's. Thought it was cute. I used a kit called Soft Hearted which is by LaWanna Desjardin and available in the Friends and Family section (to benefit Carla Gibson's family) at O Scraps. The paint swatch under the journaling (recolored) is by Katie the Scrapbook Lady, her Journaling and Quote Backgrounds, available at The Digi Shoppe. I also used Sketchplate #7 by Anita Stergiou, available at NDISB and at Pickleberry Pop, though I've altered it so much she might not recognize it!

Found this photo of myself and one of the nicest guys I ever dated, who, with my "bad boy" fixation, regrettably finished last. Can we say "stupid"? I used Fall Leaves by Windgefluester for this layout. The cardboard flower is from Amanda Rockwell's Big Lauren LaLas] (recolored). I also used Amanda's new Flower Punch element pack for the tiny red flowers. The heart is by Vera Lim and the stitching is by Dani Mogstad. The alpha is by Bella Gypsy Designs, used as a clipping mask for paper from the kit. Amanda's products are available at amandarockwell.com.

And an extra one, just because it's special to me!

My cousin had over 300 slides converted to photos and this gem was among them--my paternal grandfather exactly as I remember him. I used paper from Nina's Unique Mini kit, available at O Scraps and NDISB. The lace is by Ronna Penner and the flowers from Sausan Designs. The carved stone heart, slightly rcolored, is by Marcie Reckinger and the key is by Traci Sims. The alpha is by Dani Mogstad. The bow is one of Lynn Grieveson's new Frayed Knots. The frame is from Nina's Frame Collection 1, also available at O Scraps and NDISB.

On Grandmotherhood

Jennifer is teaching some classes at the University in the evenings so Grandma is getting to spend a lot of time with the little guys.  Of course, I love it.  Yesterday, Joe and I went to pick up the kids at their daycare.  The trip was easier that I thought it might be, particularly since we were right in the after work rush hour.  But we stuck to surface streets and spent most of the time going against traffic so it was less traumatic than some of these drives have been.  First we went to get Will.  We'd been told he'd be on the playground but Jen forgot to tell us you have to have a numerical code to enter the playground.  Fortunately, one of the teachers saw us, inspected us, deemed us to be something other than kidnappers, and let us in.  We didn't find Will there.  His teacher had not yet brought the kids out there.  So, we were directed to the proper area and the teacher was just in the process of herding her little flock to the playground.  Will had spent part of his day constructing a house out of cardboard boxes, down to the pool chairs made of construction paper for sunbathing by the pool.  So cute.  His teacher informed us that he was extremely persistent.  He would not stop until he had that thing just the way he wanted it.  Well, persistence can be an excellent quality so that was good to know.   But, oops, he informed us he'd lost his lunch box somewhere during the day and although he'd looked everywhere for it, it was nowhere to be found.

Then we went to gather up Atticus and his many belongings.  I have always said that traveling anywhere with a baby is a bit like mobilizing the 8th Army--There's a lot of logistics and supply issues to take into account.  Of course, there's the baby, his car seat, his stuffed lovey, his clean diapers, his bottles, his food, his unused diapers, and his used (G diapers) that need to be washed.  We ended up with the baby in the car seat and four plastic bags of "stuff".  He was sitting up playing when we got there.  One of the teachers was sitting right behind him, I suppose in case he toppled over.  But he was doing a good job and didn't seem in any danger of falling over.  He was banging away on one toy with another toy.  Joe was not happy that he had to remove his shoes to go into the nursery, but the babies crawl around on the floor and that keeps things a bit cleaner for them.

We loaded the troops into the van and headed home.  Unfortunately, we were now in the middle of the traffic.  But, after just a short distance, traffic breaks and we did okay after that.  We went to Kilroys for dinner.  Seemed like just the thing to do since that is what we always did with Willie when we picked him up from Day Care--sort of continuing the tradition.  Joe wasn't too sure about going to a restaurant with the baby.  I think he had visions of Atticus really making a scene.  But, nothing could have been further from the truth.  As long as I kept shoveling his food fast enough, he was as good as gold.  He ate what was left of his cottage cheese for the day and finished off a jar of mixed fruit.  And, when he saw the waitress put my food in front of me, he crawled out of his seat and onto the table to make a dive for my plate.  There wasn't much any of us could share with him--after all, he only has 4 teeth.  But, I had a small side serving of baked beans so I smashed them up and he chowed down on those with big smiles.  Of course, all the waitresses and customers had to stop to talk to him.  It was actually Joe who was the troublemaker.  He was trying to squeeze out some ketchup from one of those plastic bottles when the nozzle end popped off and he was covered with exploding ketchup. 

We arrived at the house between 7 and 7:30 and I put a blanket down on the grass outside and sat with Atticus.  My thought was that that way he could crawl around without the dogs coming around to smell and lick him.  Instead he crawled over and laid his head on my leg and was about to go to sleep!  When Joe got the car unloaded, I took Atticus in and laid with him in our bed.  He laid his head on my arm and sucked down about 5 ounces of milk and went to sleep.  I snuck out, put the gate across our bedroom door so the dogs couldn't get in there and wake him up and set a timer for 10 minutes.  I was just outside the bedroom door, folding some laundry when I heard him.  I had tucked him in with the sheet and placed pillows on both sides of him.  Not good enough, Grandma.  He'd crawled out from under the sheet, over one of the pillows to discover he was at the edge of the bed.  Then he cried to be rescued.  I went back in with him, gave him another 4 ounces of milk and had just gotten him back to sleep when his mom arrived. 

In the meantime, Will decided he needed a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.  I don't know what it is about that stuff, but he never fails to ask for it when he comes here.  I got him a bowl ready while he watched Atticus and I got the second bottle ready.  He returned to watching TV which he loves....cartoons only, though.  And, in the office, Joe was on the phone with Erica who needed help with her homework.  So they were working on milileters, liters, milimeters, centimeters, meters, grams, etc.  I had to giggle.......it was a bit like we were back to parenting on all fronts.  We were two busy people!

I have a set of books I have to have done by Friday, so there's no time for more.  Truthfully, I should be doing data entry instead of blogging at this very minute.  But, I'll post a few pages and then get busy on my long to do list.

While we were touring the Conservatory at the Bellagio, we spotted this beautiful young lady being coached to "kiss the frog" by her boyfriend who had his camera in hand. It was such a cute shot I couldn't resist grabbing it as well. I used Melanie Colosimo's Feelin Flirty kit, available at Elemental Scraps. The shape template used to cut the scalloped piece is by Deb Fisher from her That's My Add-On kit. You can find it here: http://www.pickleberrypop.com/shop/m...&page=3The black doodle is by Jackie Eckles and the flowers are from Amanda Heiman's Kelsey kit, available at Plain Digital Wrapper.

This is from a photoshoot I did with DD and DGS when he was 2 months old. I just love how this series of pictures turned out. I used a corner fold template from Jennilyn Designs. The clipped flowers are by Bella Gypsy Designs. I used word art by Samantha Davis. Everything else on the page is by Lawanna Desjardin, her new Cloudburst Mini Kit and add-on, available at O Scraps.

DH's youngest daughter is about to bust her buttons. She'll be graduating from middle school in just a few weeks, and starting high school in the fall. I can remember the same mixture of fear and excitement and it's fun to relive it with her. I used Lena Brandenburg's Feminine Casual mini kit for this page. You can find it at ACOT here http://www.acherryontop.com/digital/...?l=1&sr=33 , where it is currently on sale for an unbelievable price. The pink newspaper flowers and bling, slightly recolored, are by Gina Miller. The glitter daisies are by Heather Ann Melzer.

Searched and searched through my stash of digi kits for just the right one to go with the colors in this photo. Finally found Kelly Shults' Good Times kit which worked perfectly. The paint stroke is by Amanda Rockwell. I've also got some Poppin Swirls on there by Tracy Ann Robinson. DGS was about 20 months old when this photo was taken.

DH unearthed a long missing box of photos and these were in there. Don't you love the plaid skirt? Heard that is back in style now.....So, I'm even stylish in this photo. Used a template by Amy Watson and the 24 kit by Ange Barton. The "love" stamp is by Amanda Slagle.

In order to claim credit for this gorgeous photo, I'd have to live in Oregon. It was taken by our friend John on one of his many hikes. I've used Lynn Grieveson's newest kit, Pelican Lake, for the page. Lynn's work is available exclusively at Designer Digitals. The little eyelet/ribbon item is recolored and created by Natalie Braxton.

Jennifer held the phone for Atticus so he could hear his father. This photo is the result and this page is the result of my having had two relatively quiet days in a row with my imagination running wild! Gingham paper is part of Amanda Heimann's Summer Love Collection.  Amanda's work is now available at the Digichick.  Page border is by Gina Miller. The grass is by Corina Nielson. The chipboard alpha is called Chippy and it's by Lynn Grieveson--exclusively at Designer Digials. The red ribbon is by Ashley Olson and the flowers are by Tracy Ann Robinson. The doodled frame is by Amanda Rockwell and the inked edge on the photo is by Ake Pangestuti. The dialogue bubble is from Katie the Scrapbook Lady's Visual Frames Comical at The Digi Shoppe.

Laugh or cry......

So, I promised a few folks some fun stories.  They're fun, but then again they're not.  Most of you who read this blog know that 15 months ago, Jason, my son-in-law, suffered a traumatic brain injury.  At first, he was not expected to live.  Now, we continue to await full healing of the damage that was done to his brain.  But, in the meantime, it leads to some strange experiences. 

While we took Willie to Utah on Sunday, Jennifer sent Jason to the grocery store.  Jason is a vegetarian and since marrying him, Jennifer has been cooking vegetarian meals.  She listed "faux chicken pieces" on the grocery list.  When Jason got home with the groceries, she went through everything looking for the "faux chicken pieces" which she intended to use in what she was cooking for dinner.  No "faux chicken pieces".  There was, however, a generous supply of peas.  She asked Jason about the peas.  "Well," he said, "you wanted chickpeas".........  Of course, let's just not even talk about the fact that peas are not chickpeas.....

Jason drives an old truck.  It's in good shape, considering its age, but he babies it.  He complained that it had an "awful noise" and decided that he HAD to take it in to be repaired.  So, that meant that Jennifer added dropping him off and picking him up at work to her schedule.  Monday morning she took him downtown.  On the way, they stopped at a Starbucks so he could have a cup of coffee to start the day.  She pulled up in front of his office and he got out of the car.  He started to put his cup of coffee on the top of the car so he could reach in and get his briefcase and other belongings.  Jennifer cautioned him that he shouldn't do that.  "It may look like it's level and flat, but it's not.  Your coffee will spill.  I know because I've tried it."  "No", he responded.  "It'll be just fine."  Sat his cup of coffee on the roof of the car, and, of course, it spilled.  He looked so forlorn and Jennifer felt sorry for him.  "Get back in the car and I'll take you to get another cup."  "No,"  Jason said.  "That's too much to pay for coffee."  "No", Jennifer said.  "Just get back in the car and let's go get you another cup of coffee."  They went back to Starbucks and got another cup of coffee.  Once again, Jennifer pulled up in front of Jason's office.  This time he opened the car door and was going to sit the coffee on the ground.  "No," Jennifer said.  "Just hand it to me; I'll hold it until you get out of the car and then hand it to you."  "No," replied Jason.  "It'll be fine here."  Jason sat the coffee on the ground, it was NOT level and the second cup of Starbucks spilled.  Meanwhile, as Jason dove to grab the coffee cup, his papers went flying all over the street.  They spent the next ten minutes or so picking up his paperwork.  Needless to say, Jennifer arrived at work late.......

Jennifer was supposed to pick him up at work that evening and take him home.  She explained that she'd leave the office around 5, walk over to the Day Care, nurse Atticus, pick up Will, and then pick him up sometime before 6PM.  "No," he said.  "Just call me when you get here."  So, at the end of the day, Jennifer did indeed walk to the day care, nurse Atticus, pick up Will, and drive back downtown.  She arrived at 5:45 PM.  She called Jason, but he didn't answer his phone.  So, she left a message:  "I'm downstairs, waiting for you."  She waited a while longer and then called again; still no answer.  Now, you have to understand it was well over 100 degrees outside and hot and uncomfortable in the car.  AND, Atticus just HATES his car seat and is ALWAYS cranky when he's in it.  So.....Atticus is way past ready to be out of his seat and out of the car; he is cranking and about ready to cry.  And, Will is asking over and over again when they're going to go home, and what's for dinner, and he's hungry!  So, Jennifer was all set to call Jason one more time just to let him know she'd waited for him for half an hour and was going home.  But, she thought maybe she ought to see if she could get into the building and find him.  Though the door was supposed to be locked, she got into the building.  She knocked on an office door and some lady came out, looking at her, she says, as though she and her children were the new terrorists on the block.  Somehow with this lady's oh-so-suspicious help, she managed to get to the third floor.  There she knocked on another door and the person there helped her get to Jason's office.  (It's all supposed to be a secure building.)  She walked into Jason's office, dragging Will behind her and carrying Atticus.  She was, needless to say, hot, tired, cranky, and more than a little pissed off.  Jason looked up, smiled, and said "Hi, guys!  What are you doing here?"

Yesterday they got the truck back from the repair shop.  The "awful noise" it was making was fixed.  The cause of all this consternation?  A loose hubcap!!!!!!!

No pages this time.  I'm worn out from typing!  This was hilarious as Jennifer told it.  I doubt I did it justice in the retelling, but you get the idea!

Another day, another quarter

Well, we survived last week.  I had about all I could take by Saturday, so we grabbed Willie and headed north.  We went to Kolob Reservoir in southern Utah.  It was fun to share one of our favorite places with Will.  He was pretty funny.  First, we picked him up early and took him to breakfast.  He ate a pretty big breakfast--cereal, cinnamon roll, bacon.  Then we hit the road north.  We stopped going into St. George and bought Will some new shoes at Walmart.  He'd outgrown his running shoes and Jason had thrown them away.  Unfortunately, you have to be concerned about cold little feet in flip flops at the reservoir--no matter how hot it is down below, it's frequently chilly at the top.  He thought his new shoes were great and he talked Grandpa into buying him a toy.  We made it to Hurricane, UT about 12:30.  Will was looking at the clock and announced it was time for lunch.  Joe was shocked that he was hungry when we'd finished breakfast only about 3 hours before.  Will managed to spot a Burger King in the distance that I sure didn't see (and I've got great distance vision), and of course, that meant we were having Burger King for lunch.  At first, Joe was confused about which direction we needed to go, but we took the proper turn and headed out of Hurricane.  The drive up to the reservoir is 25 miles and top speed on the climb, per the speed limit is 35mph.  There are two real hairpin turns and any number of spots where there is a steep drop off along the side of the road going up.  The road is considered so dangerous by the locals that many people won't go up there unless they are sure they can get back before dark.  We stopped along the way and took some pictures in a winter wheat field.  I also got some great photos at the reservoir.  Will and Joe had some ball practice up there alongside the reservoir.  Coming down was exciting--Joe didn't bother to check the gas gauge before we went up so by the time we made the first gas station in Hurricane, I think the tank must have been darn near dry.  Who says prayer doesn't make a difference?  I had planned on taking some photos at various places on the way down, but that went out the window with the empty gas tank.......

One of the things that always amazes me is how cool it is up there.  The van has a temperature gauge on it.  It showed a temp of 101 at the bottom.  By the time we made the top of the climb the temperature was 75degrees.  A few degrees cooler and we would have been digging in the back of the van for jackets, long pants, etc, particularly with the breeze that was blowing.  It is quiet, the air is clean and fresh.  It is such a peaceful place. 

We stopped on the way back in St. George and had dinner at Chuck-a-rama.  When I first heard of the place, years ago, it sounded to me like a place that would feed you cowboy beans and fried potatoes.  In reality it is a buffet and the food is excellent.  Though they get quite a crowd in and out of there at meal times, the food does not have that "mass produced" taste.  You really get the feeling they cooked it to order, just for you.  Will had "steak" (roast beef), some green Jello, some red Jello, and some chocolate cake.  I thought about the fact that he wasn't eating any veggies but decided to ignore it.  I know his mother cooks lots of veggies for him all the time so one meal without them won't kill him.   Fun fact:  you pay for children based on their age.  The cost is $.75 per year.  So, for Will, it cost us 7 x $.75.  Sure a great deal, particularly for the typically large families in that area.   And, it's not unusual to see parties of a dozen or more at the restaurant. 

Well, that's about it for now.  I've got work to do.  Here are some pages and then I've got to get busy.

Johnstown, PA is my parents' home town. While the city has fallen on economic hard times, it has a rich history, including one of the nation's worst natural disasters. I have found an internet site (www.robertpence.com) which features points of interest, some of which I remember, in a phototour of the area. Can you imagine a flood that wiped out 90% of area buildings and killed 2200 people with no DNA to identify the bodies and no modern equipment to clear the debris? These are photos of the flood site as it appears today and a short explanation of the reasons behind the flood. I used Traci Reed's Ruffled Skirt kit for this and a 2-page template from Melanie Colosimo at Elemental Scraps called Button Up.

Another great photo from www.robertpence.com. Love this road sign found outside Johnstown, PA. The road sign actually says "Aggressive Driver High Crash Area". Now, tell me, isn't that a funky weird road sign? Wouldn't any other state post a state trooper there, not a road sign? This kit is not currently for sale, but you can buy lots of great Deb Fisher stuff at Pickleberry Pop. The road sign is by Ange Barton, and the sun element is by Amanda Rockwell.

Right across from the dentist's office in Los Algodones is this cute little restaurant. We were hungry this trip so we decided to try it out. The food was great and they even had entertainment....kind of fun to hear Patsy Kline's country hits with a Mexican flair. I used Amanda Rockwell's Sprinkles kit for this layout. The colors were perfect. Amanda's products are available at amandarockwell.com. I also used clusters (altered) by Nancy Comelab.

We only had two days in San Diego, but our last stop was the USS Midway Museum. There was A LOT of walking involved, but it was worth it. This isn't the greatest photo, but with the cars below, it does give some idea of the size of the ship. It was commissioned in 1945 and served for 42 years. It has only opened as a museum in the last few years so new areas of the ship are being opened to visitors all the time. Everything on the page is from Lawanna Desjardin's American Pride kit, available at O Scraps.

The dogs are SO curious when the baby is around. But, they are not used to babies, so we can only let them near him under close supervision. Here Punkin gets a very closely supervised "first sniff" of Atticus. I used Nina's "Friends" kit for this page. The heart is by Traci Reed (recolored) and the creator of the cardboard by someone unknown. Nina's designs are available at O Scraps and at NDISB.

I would have loved to scrap these photos in color, but Atticus looked SO red in the color photos. I don't remember him being THAT color! So b&w seemed better to me. I used a new kit by Amanda Heimann called Just Ducky, available at Plain Digital Wrapper. The swirls are by Kristin CB and the tear is by Traci Sims.

Quiet here

Well, last week kept us on our toes.  By Thursday we were exhausted.  Saturday night, July 28th started the Holy Spirit Conference at church which ran through Wednesday night, August 1.  Actually, most nights it was well past midnight when the services ended.  We had three great speakers, Heidi Baker, Bill Johnson, and Randy Clark.  And, a real move of God as the conference was covered in prayer.  But, poor Joe was in pain by the time the conference ended--he'd signed up to usher in all but the first meeting.  That meant a lot of hours on his feet every evening. 

The weather was nice, though.  We usually get rain in July and August.  At least we get elevated humidity.  Sometimes the higher humidity does us no good, but we had overcast skies (which helped cut the heat) and even a bit of rain most days last week.  That meant lots of muddy doggy paws and, since the rain was accompanied by thunder and lightening, tranquilizers for Toby.  Of course, Joe's idea is that if one works, two are better.  And, if two are better, why, we are nearing nirvana if we add in a couple of Benedryl.  The poor dog was passed out all night and hung over all the next day.    But, when Toby stays calm, Indy stays calm.  Punky mostly just ignores them, but even she gets a little upset.  So, it's good to keep Toby calm (though passed out may be a bit too much!).

Jen was out of town all last week.  She was at the yearly meeting she usually attends.  It was apparently quite difficult for her.  She had signed up for some "official duties" and found herself with her own two kids needing a lot of attentio from her because she was there on her own.  I guess folks helped out where they could, but you still have to be careful to whom you entrust your kids.  Anyway she came home from "vacation" complaining about how tired she is......  Seems pretty normal to me.  If I DO get to relax for a day or two, I usually take on too much sight seeing.  Then, when we arrive home, there's all the catch-up work to do.  I'm pretty sure, unless you have a "staff" of servants, vacations just aren't all they're cracked up to be.

Well, just a little over a week til the August 15 extensions expire.  I have several returns still to complete, but it looks (today) as though only one will be done by August 15.  I'll be needing to extend the rest through October 15, I fear.

Don't know if I mentioned it here, but we got a letter from our friends at the IRS that our 2005 return was under audit.  They wanted to audit contributions.  I find that pretty darn weird because we attached receipts to the return when it was filed.  I think it is because Joe didn't have ALL the receipts, so, without telling me, he only attached some of the receipts.  That, of course, makes them think you realy don't have any more receipts and they should check you out more closely.  It seems we have managed to produce receipts for  all but $45 of the claimed amount.  Joe hasn't sent the package off to them, but it's about 50 pages so that ought to give them some good reading......

Well, we are having one of those months we hate.  Money is nonexistent.  If it weren't for our credit lines and credit cards, we would be homeless.  July was an awful month.  August is looking like it will be better, but we won't see any of that money til September.  Unless the Lord comes through with a real miracle, I just don't know how we can keep going as we have been.  So, if anyone has spare prayer time, there's something to pray about.

I'm going to post some pages and get on with the laundry.  Sometime today, I have to get some accounting work done too.  Hope you enjoy.....

Atticus is a darling little boy who at 5 months, still has beautiful blue eyes, a sweet temperment, and a pnk bow of a mouth. But, he has what Mommy calls "Elf Ears". Once he gets more hair, they'll be less noticeable, but I can see where she gets the name...... I used Nina's new kit called Say It With Flowers for this page. You can find Nina's designs at NDISB and at O Scraps.

Just a tongue in cheek layout about this photo of Joe taken in old town San Diego. I actually thought this was a wooden Indian til I looked at if closer and discovered it is really a wooden Spaniard. I used Traci Reed's Ruffled Shirt kit for this page. I also used a template by Deb Fisher. Deb recently lost her husband and is now left to raise their 7 children alone. Deb Fisher is a talented designer who sells at Pickleberry Pop.

I took these photos of Will a couple of months ago and thought they turned out particularly well. I did this layout for Lifts with a Twist. The blue paper and glitter frame are from Amanda Rockwell's Neon Floral; the alpha is Amanda's After the Rain; the other glitter elements are from Amanda's kit called Into the Light. The newspaper swirl is by Faith True. The sheet music flower is by Tracy Ann Robinson as is the colorful swirl behind the small flower. The ribbon is from FPD's Funk that Spring kit. The doodled frame and sun are by Ida. All of Amanda's products are available exclusively at amandarockwell.com.

Found this sweet note from my DD in a box the other day. She was about 10 years old when she wrote this. She knew the story of her birth and that I had fought for her life. I decided this story merited a scrapbook page. The papers here are by Deb Fisher. The template used to cut the scalloped shape is by Jen Caputo. The ribbon is by Fhung (recolored). The butterfly is by Amy Bleser and the frame on the photo is by Traci Sims. The tear is by Grace Bennett. Deb recently lost her husband and is now left to raise their 7 children alone. Deb Fisher is a talented designer who sells at Pickleberry Pop.

Atticus has been teething and chewing on everything in sight, including fistfuls of Mom's hair. Yuck! DD claims her hair is always full of baby slobber. But we can see a tooth, so I guess it's worthwhile. I used Lynn Grieveson's Elizabeth kit for this page. The heart element is from her Sparkles element pack. The swirl is by Tracy Ann Robinson, used as a clipping mask for papers from the kit. I also used Jennilyn's "Bended Frame". You can find Lynn Grieveson's products exclusively at Designer Digitals.

This is one of the photos from our trip to Oxnard last fall. People ask me "why Oxnard?" and I have to say that there's little along the coast that isn't beautiful and photo-worthy. I used the new customer appreciation kit from NDISB called Vacanza Piena di Sole. The bow is recolored and the doodle flowers are from Ange Barton's sampler kit "25". I was inspired by a layout I printed off the internet sometime ago which unfortunately doesn't contain any information to identify the creator. If it's yours, please sing out so I can give you proper credit.

I seldom scrap commercial pictures, but I thought this one was particularly well done for a school picture and I thought it might be important to my stepdaughter and DH to see it scrapped. I scraplifted a layout by inskidahv which can be seen here: http://www.scrapbook-elements.com/ga...p;limit=recent I used Nina's new kit, Life is Beautiful, which is available at NDISB and OScraps.