Thursday 13.......

My friend Tish always does themed Thursday 13 so I am going to try that.....my theme this week.....13 REASONS I love my BOYS!

1. Both boys are the most amazingly, caring human beings....not a day goes by without a hug and a kiss and sometimes even a cuddle.
2. Alex and his new found love for reading....and the special time we have when we cuddle on the couch to read together.
3. Evan and his SHEER dedication to whatever he puts his mind too, whether it's school, scouts or guitar!
4. Alex for not being such a GRUMP in the mornings lately...sure gets my day off to a better start!
5. Evan's dimples.....they brighten any rainy day....thanks Dave for passing those to him!
6. Most days they get along like best friends.....so fun to listen to them play together...or Evan helping Alex with his homework.
7. Their willingness to help....jobs like unloading the dishwasher or taking out the trash are ones I rarely have to do!
8. Evan's BRAVENESS to get up tonight and SING and PLAY his guitar in the talent show backed up by a few of his best friends! I would have NEVER done that!
9. Alex coming in to me nightly to tell me I'm the BEST mom and that he loves me!
10. LAUGHTER....they bring it to the house daily!
11. Their DESIRE to learn...always asking; wanting to know more!
12. Evan's sense of ADVENTURE...no mountain high enough, no hike long enough for him to say NOPE, Don't want to go!
13. Simply...I love my boys because they are the BEST!

Okay..enough gushing mommy moments!!!! LOL!!!!

Altered Gum container...and lots of rain!

I had this container from Eclipse gum sitting on my table for a while now.....today I decided that I'd alter it to hold my jelly bellies (rather than the yellow plastic cup I was holding them in!). So fun to just open the flap and dump a few out!!! Evan even noticed it and decided he needed one too!!!!!

RAIN, RAIN...go away, come again another day! Today was the FIRST day in about a week that we have NOT had rain! It was windy but NO RAIN!!! YEAH!!!! But, there is more to come......

Shaker Box Crop

OH MY GOSH...what a GREAT crop we've been having this weekend at the Shaker Box!!!! GREAT challenges, tutorials, games....WONDERFUL friends (new and old)....and INCREDIBLY talented artists!!!! If you haven't come to visit....the party is continuing until Tuesday..and it's always exciting there....

Here's a few of the layouts I got done this weekend....

We took a hike last summer over a ridge and down to this little lake....along the edge were these little mountain cabins in a meadow. We couldn't resist checking them out.
The challenge for this one was to use grey and one other color. Perfect colors for these photos of Evan and Tanya. She adores her older cousin!
Photos from Alex's Patriotic performance in 2nd grade....

So glad tomorrow is a holiday...more time to scrap!! Laundry is done....just need to change the sheets on one bed!!!!!

Thursday 13

Here's my first Thursday 13 of the year.......

1. I'm excited about the online crop that's getting started tomorrow at The Shaker Box! Come join us...it's going to be fun!
2. I've bee participating in a Layout a Day Challenge at Big Picture Scrapbooking....so far this month I have gotten a layout done every day EXCEPT 2 days (Saturday and tonight). But several of my layouts have been 2 pages so when you look at number of pages I am right on schedule....18 pages done as of today!
3. Just printed out about 100 photos at Costco tonight to get ready for the crop this weekend!
4. Dave and Evan will be gone Saturday and Sunday...camping on the USS Hornet (an aircraft carrier) in the bay. Talk about EXCITED!
5. Need to get photo cards empty and batteries charged so Dave can take the little digital camera....now just hope he actually USES it!
6. Loving the new look of my blog....colors are cheery and the music is fun!!!!
7. Almost finished with my 4th book of the year....any recommendations, post them in the commnets..I'm always looking for books to read.
8. Don't you hate it when you have a good thought and then it disappears??? I had a thought about the online crop this weekend...an idea, and now, it's GONE! POOF!!!! I hope it returns...
9. Have you checked out the new stamps at Papertrey Ink???? Nichole has just introduced a couple AMAZING sets...going to have to save my money!
10. Airborne...what's your thought on this? I know some people swear by it...just bought some tonight at Costco...reallly not bad tasting. But does it REALLY work????
11. 3 day weekend....gotta love those!!!!!!!
12. Running out of ideas.....but really, who reads this???
13. HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!!!

A little scrapbooking and an ONLINE Crop

Wow..it's the 15th of the month and I have already completed 16 scrapbook pages this month! I am working on the LOAD challenge at Big Picture Scrapbooking....it's a challenge to do a layout a day for the month of January! Whew....so far, I've only missed one day. It's been fun to get so much done....and use up some of the photos in my basket. Need to get rid of some of them before ordering more.

The Design Team at the Shaker Box is having an online crop this weekend...if you are looking for inspiration to jump start that scrapping mojo stop by and visit us. There will be lots of fun happening there.

A few photos....

We've had a great weekend....busy, but the fun busy. Lots of wine tasting, blending our own wine, celebrating a friend's 50th birthday, visiting family, seeing the sunshine (something we don't always get to see here in January!). Here are a few photos from our adventures!
Here is my wine being poured into the bottles. At the blending bash we were able to blend our own wine using 4 different wines. It was great fun BUT, I am anxious to see what my wine really tastes like...by the time I had come up with the PERFECT blend, I am sure my taste buds were a LITTLE off!!!
My Christmas cactus is blooming....started getting blooms right after Christmas and is now FULL of blooms. I'm proud of myself for keeping it alive. This plant was my dad's and when we cleaned out his apartment a year ago I reluctantly took it, thinking that it would never survive. It sits during the winter on my kitchen window sill...and reminds me daily of my parents. It's been almost a year since Dad passed away and ten and a half years since mom did.....not a day goes by that I don't think of them and miss them. Having these flowers are just a reminder of their love.

Couldn't resist taking photos of the flag at the winery today. Perfect blue skies, with wisps of clouds floating by...and the perfect breeze to make the flag wave.

Hope the few that read this had a GREAT weekend...and a wonderful week to come!

An award....

My friend Wendy has given me this award.....THANKS Wendy!!!!!

The directions are: "Give the award to up to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel so happy about blogland! Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so that they can pass it on. Beware! You may get the award several times!"

So...here are my links:
Tilda http://raggedydayz.blogspot.com/
Erin http://erinragan.blogspot.com/
Tisha http://tjoel2.livejournal.com/
Verna http://kraftyscraps.blogspot.com/
Rachel http://themcgoverngirlsandtwins.blogspot.com/
Linda http://dottbugs.blogspot.com/
Jane http://sneezy1956.blogspot.com/
Brenda http://thelifeofascrappingmom.blogspot.com/
Carrie http://livinglovingscrapping.blogspot.com/
Mel http://www.itsamelthing.blogspot.com/

A New Year...a new LOOK!!

Happy New Year! We're already off to a busy start.....scrapbooking, hockey games, work, wine tasting, business trips.....just a few things occuring this month! I have been getting lots of scrapbooking done....I've been participating in a Layout A Day Challenge at Big Picture Scrapbooking...so far, I've kept up. Not sure if it will happen all month...but so far already 10 pages done! Here's a few projects....

Evan running in the waves in South Carolina....simple page here with just some chipboard and cardstock.
FUN stamps from Papertrey Ink....the Design Team at The Shaker Box were lucky to receive this and 2 other sets from the owner!!! Go check her out!!! http://www.papertreyink.com/
Sea Star....photo I took last January while exploring the tide pools in Monterey with Evan's class. Just love it.....
Fun, fast pages of our backpacking trip last August/September.

And check out my book list -----> I'm going to list all the books I read this year.....last year the list was about 45 books long....10 days into January and I'm already at 3 books!!!! So, if you are ever looking for that next novel....check out the list, I'd recommend any of them!

Some recent projects...

The Design Team at The Shaker Box has been blessed with having two wonderful sponsors this month!!! Cosmo Cricket (http://www.cosmocricket.com/) gave us all a Gretel paper pack and a package of Buck Naked chipboard. Nichole from Paper Trey Ink (http://www.papertreyink.com/) gave us 3 stamp sets! If you get an opportunity PLEASE go support these wonderful companies!

Adore

photo of my 2 neices

Altered Clipboard to keep track of how many projects I do this year.
Just the Boys

photo of my boys and nephews

Card made with Chatterbox paper and Paper Trey stamp set: Beautiful Blooms