remember

missing NYC

I'm missing New York so I thought I would make a scrapbook page of our trip :)

 

Thank U Alanis

I {heart} Alanis

I was listening to music on shuffle today and this song came on...love the words of this song :)

focusing on what matters

 

via Pinterest

This school year has been a learning experience. Working full time has been great but at the same time trying to juggle the kids and their schedules + working full time has been crazy. After a lot of thought, I made the decision to go back to working 4-5 hours a day. I'm leaving the front office and going back to being a playground aide at the school, a job that I really love and miss. I'm going back to having a little more balance in my life and I'm extremely grateful that I have a choice. I'm choosing to focus on my family for now...they are what matter most :)

 

to do list

1st grade field trip

 On March 7th, we went to the Phoenix Zoo for the 1st grade field trip. 5 boys in our group...I had my hands full :) We had so much fun and I'm glad I got to be a chaperone

 Miss Thomas and Mrs. L

 H said that he wanted to go to Petco to buy a bald eagle and name it Skittles :)

Be the ONE

I loved this post today from Positively Positive :)

Stop Comparing Yourself to Others…(BE the ONE)
Stop comparing yourself to others.
There are seven-billion people on this planet and only ONE you.

YOU have ZERO competition in being yourself.

Gandhi is taken.
Buddha’s been done.
Bruce Lee has already had his fun.
Your true SELF is brighter than the sun.
You being YOU will make you the only One.
You are one of a kind—a unique, amazing, divine creation born to express your gifts with the world.
Your mere presence on this planet makes a difference, and who you ARE is the gift.
Yet we sometimes forget this. Thinking we should be something other than we are. That we must be…
…more successful
…more knowledgeable
…more skinny
…more nice
…more enlightened
…more like Gandhi or Mother Theresa.
The list can be exhausting and endless.

When, in fact, the very things that make you YOU are the very things that make YOU YOU. And what makes You uniquely YOU is the very thing that makes you special.

Comparing yourself to others is futile, for there is really no comparison. It only ends up killing your creativity and aliveness, leaving you feeling terrible. We often think everyone else is living the dream life and that we might be failing or falling behind. This is far from reality.
The goal in life is not to be successful by someone else’s standard but by your own authentic heart’s measure. Everyone has a different destiny and life path. You never really can know what is for others. To look at someone from the outside is not a true representation of what they are really going through at their level of fulfillment.
So today, let go of looking over there at someone else and comparing yourself to them.
You are not them.
You are not meant to be them.
You are you.
…and you were meant to be YOU!
The more you honor your uniqueness and the perfection of your life’s journey, the more you see your true self. The more you see your true self, the more beauty you will find within yourself to celebrate.
To succeed at being somebody that you are not (but think you need to be) is still a failure. But to love who you are and courageously be that fully is a life well lived.
The easiest thing is, in fact, to be who you are, but we forget.
I invite you to BE the ONE and love yourself deeply.
So, give yourself a gift today.
Stop comparing yourself to others.
Set yourself free.
Love. Now.

to-do list today and everyday

field trip scrapbook page

I got around to doing a page on P's field trip. I probably should have added some journaling but I was too lazy :)

We had half day on Friday and no school today. A nice long weekend was just what we needed. The weather has been so awesome...we're trying to soak it in because the heat will return soon enough.

My all-time favorite movie

Everyone has movies that they love, right? My top ten favorites have been the same for many years. But my all-time favorite that inspires me and makes me so very happy is...

"Moses Supposes"...I swear I have watched this dance a hundred times. Did you know that Gene Kelly was 40 years old when he made this movie?
40 years old and he can dance like that...inspiring! I've got to give props to Donald O'Connor for keeping up with Gene.

Debbie Reynolds had no dance training when she got this role. She learned how to dance in 3 months for this movie! She says that the 2 hardest things that she's done in her life were childbirth and Singin' in the Rain :)

new years 2013

My sweet Mom bought all this fun stuff for the kids to ring in the new year. 

They made so much noise and a blast doing it :)

Thursdays

I love 30 Rock! I'm going to miss this show :(

January fun stuff

Braden has been doing this everytime I bring out the camera...

 B's beloved bracelets

 Surprises from Papa and Gaga

 Aaron has been gone to China for business. It was so nice to have a visit from Mom and Dad. We had a great time and they loved the awesome weather. Mom's birthday was on the 19th so we got her a Nothing Bundt cake. It was so good!

 I got to be a chaperone for the 5th Grade field trip. We went to Local Motors and the kids got to learn about cars. It was really fun, the kids loved it.

 Each group got to design a car. I think this was their favorite part

 After Local Motors, we found a park to eat lunch. I'm glad I got the day off so I could go :)

3 years...

I miss my buddy...love you Grandma!
{Thanksgiving 1996}

2012 Year in Review

I had some time the other day so I just chose a few of my favorite pictures from each month and put them into the templates. I don't know what I would do without templates...

It's hard to believe 2012 is over, it went by so fast!

{Credits}

Ali Edwards 2012 bracket stamps

Ali Edwards Months + Days brushes

Crystal W. Templates

Clean Stitched Banners

 

TIME in 2013

My focus for 2013 is time. Being a mom is challenging. I catch myself saying, 'I wish I had just a few more hours in the day.' I need to get selective about how I spend my time, that's the plan.

Wish me luck :) 

Blogging and scrapbooking make me happy so they will stay :)

Sunday Sledding

We had so much fun seeing my family and hanging out. The kids had a blast sledding with their cousins. It was below zero temperatures at night and single digit temps during the day. 

We are just not used to it being that cold! 

Thank you Mom and Dad for being awesome hosts and keeping the house nice and warm for us!

And the delicious home cooked meals made with love by Mom :)

 

Christmas at our house

 Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

It's been so great spending time together and having time off. We just got back from a visit to Vernal for a few days to see my family. Our December Daily album for 2012 is finished! It was tough keeping up this year with everything going on but we did it!