killing time

I deeply {heart} this place

Today, I'm going to achieve one of my lifelong goals. I'm beyond excited!

I'm hiking from the south to the north rim of the Grand Canyon today.

With the love o' my life,

 my little brother who is a good sport,

and my sis-in-law that I adore and who is the most hard core woman I've ever met. (Happy Birthday R!)

Hiking this canyon is such a unique experience. It's physically challenging and it overwhelms me spiritually.

Looking forward to sharing more with you later!

my mantra in life

Jojo Henry: The most patient cat alive

Little Jojo Henry has been with us for almost 2 years now. She has been such a great pet for our family. She lives outside but she comes in by our back door to eat. I've never seen a cat as mellow as her, all the neighborhood kids love her. If I let the kids have their way, they would put clothes on her every single day.

Here are a few of their favorite "outfits"

Here's Jojo the rock star complete with a Darth Vader cape...

Next is Jojo in her favorite Hello Kitty camo outfit...who knew Build a Bear was great clothing for cats?

 and last but not least, the kids favorite pastime...wrapping Jojo up in a blanket, putting her in a doll stroller and pushing it down the sidewalk. Jojo looks a little possessed in this picture however she actually stays in the stroller for a few minutes while they push her around.

The OCD in me made sure these items were washed after these pictures were taken.

Cat hair is no laughing matter :)



my current digi project

 I just finished updating B's school album. I had completed his elementary school pages a while ago and I just wasn't feeling them. I rarely go back and redo scrapbook pages I've already done. It's a miracle they get done in the first place :)  But, I wanted something that highlighted the pics more, that was smaller in size (8.5 x 11) and I wanted his school album to match P and H's.  

This album is a Cathy Zielske template. I love her simple, clean style. It came together pretty fast because I had all the pictures organized and knew which ones I wanted to use.

I have no idea where those 8 years went...

 

Grandparent's Day memory

Today was Grandparent's Day at school. As I was looking around and talking to the grandparents here and there, I couldn't help but think back to Grandparent's Day at Naples Elementary School. A precious little memory that was tucked back in my mind came to me today. A memory of my Grandma coming to Grandparent's Day with me when I was in 4th grade. My friends adored her (and really, how many grandma's do you know that can rock a blonde afro? :) I took her into my classroom so my teacher could meet her. I introduced her to my teacher Mrs. Ence by saying, "This is my Grandma and she spoils me!" :)

Grandma made a huge impact on my life. I'm so blessed to have spent so much time with her growing up. A grandmother's love is so unique and special...I cherish so much the lessons she taught me and the unconditional love that she gave to me.

a maid and/or nerd

3 weeks ago, I went back to work. It's just a few hours a day however it has been an adjustment. The schedule is perfect for me and I still have time to get things done at home. The kids at the school are so adorable! I've been learning lots of names, going through a lot of Band-Aids and drinking lots of water so I don't get heat exhaustion (I will be so grateful when it cools down)

I'm an aide. Sometimes they call us Maids. I guess last year a kid used to call us Nerds (a cross between nurse and aide) A few of them actually know my name. I didn't think my last name was that hard to remember but they call me every other last name that begins with H other than the right one ;)

Some other perks of the job include:
-one of the 1st graders thinking I'm 30.
-having one 1st grader show me his/her loose tooth then 30 others joining in...while they're eating lunch...mouths full of food
-getting really good at opening milk cartons
- getting lots of hugs...that's the best part of the job :)
-my little entourage that follows me around on the playground in the morning before school, it's so adorable!
- jumping rope with them. One day the kids asked me if I could jump rope. I said Yes and just started jumping. You would have thought I had magical powers or something, it was so funny! (Gotta be careful when I jump the rope...you know...those muscles that hold the pee aren't what they used to be ;)







it's been one of those weeks...


Ever have those weeks where you have so much going on that you feel like if there's one more thing that goes on your "plate" your head will explode?!
Yip...it's been one of those weeks for our family.
Life is awesome...it just got momentarily crazy.
The 3 day weekend is just what we needed, so happy for that! Time to get some work done, spend some quality time together and do a little swimming before it cools down. I've been working on school albums here and there. P&H are almost caught up and I'm still working on B's. I've got a crate full of school stuff I still need to go through.
Isn't it amazing the amount of paper kids bring home from school?! Unreal! I don't think of myself as a hoarder really (just don't look in my craft closet) but when it comes to pictures my kids draw, little notes they write and anything with a handprint on it...I get totally verklempt and I just can't part with it!! I can't just keep one, I have to have them all...
I managed to put this little scrapbook page together a little while ago. I love the pictures my sis-in-law took of our family this summer. I'm working on a project right now with them...when I get it done I'll show ya :)
Hooray for Labor Day weekend!