Behind the Scenes

New Years Resolutions.....have you made yours????

It seems when I think back on my resolutions each year they tend to focus on weight loss, eating better and exercising more. Not that I don't think this is all important, but I think this year with our economy the way it is and I guess the fact that I have a kid going off to college in a few years my focus for the New Year is to get back into my coupon clipping habits and make it a challenge to spend less. A few days ago my friend Trina posted on Facebook about a site she visited and how she was learning from this site how to bargain shop. We of course my curiosity was piqued and I needed to go check it out. The site is called the Frugal Find. So today I put some of her research to test. I went to Safeway a not so low cost grocery store and I clipped coupons both from their ad and the newspaper, as well as on-line. I spent $105.74 on groceries before coupons or discounts. My coupons and store savings totaled $65.85 a 65% savings. So I actually paid $36.89. On top of that however, I have a $10.00 mail in rebate. So my new grand total was $26.89. LOVE THIS!!! Now, I did not get a balanced diet....and two of my items were not on sale but seriously how can you not use your coupons???

Here's a picture of everything I got for $26.89. 

In case you can't tell that's 3 can's of Progresso Soup, 10 boxes of Nabisco crackers, gallon of milk, 2 loaves of bread, 4 boxes of granola bars, 1 large bag of French Fries (for my swimmer the carboholic!!!), 4 boxes of cereal along with a large cross rib roast! The crackers are basically free because the deal was for every five boxes of crackers you bought the price dropped to $1.00 per box, I had coupons $1.00 of two and then the $10.00 mail in rebate.

I think I need to keep a running tab of how much I save in 2010. Anyone want to join me???

My other New Years Resolution is to start composting. Now this isn't happening tomorrow! One step at a time. Tracy has agreed to help get me set up and I know this will not happen over night but our dirt at this house is horrible and my plants would love a bit of compost and wouldn't it be good to be a bit more green?

So, I'm still working out at the gym 4 mornings a week, still fighting with the body I was given as far as weight is concerned but am happy about my two new challenges this year.

Not to totally change the subject but my other project for the year is to attend some classes at the Mac store and get a bit more proficient in using some of the programs. I love my laptop and am excited to see what APPLE will be releasing at the end of the month. What made me think about this is I'm in the process of cleaning some pictures off of the laptop and came across these two pictures from the Grand Court knitters group. These ladies are a true inspiration!!!! This is Corrine (95 years old), Joan (late 70's) and Mackenzie. Corrine is losing her eye sight but still manages to produce many baby caps each month for Newborns in Need. 

Here's Jo (she turns 95 this month and is the one who reminds me of Grandma Dahl), Jeanie who bless her heart suffers from Parkinson's and still manages to knit beautifully  and my friend Linda who used to work at the Grand Court and still does nails for some of the ladies. I'm very lucky to know these gals and to have them as my friends.
 
 

 

Christmas 2009 recap

Well, to be quite honest Christmas was a whirlwind again and I didn't get all I wanted to accomplish done again this year. Note to self.....don't make all your x-mas cards. It takes way too much time!!! I didn't shop as much this year but seemed to have quite a full plate again.

We did our usual dinner on Christmas Eve with Tracy and Kevin. It was a very small gathering without my dad and non of Kevin or Tracy's relatives showing up for the festivities. The food was once again awesome! I brought a goat cheese roll with cranberries and cinnamon on top (purchased from Costco) and some fruit and dip for appetizers. Then Kevin served his famous carrot soup with rolls. The main course was chicken breast stuffed with fontina cheese and spinach. Tracy made an very good vegetable casserole to go with the chicken. Then of course we had my cheesecake for dessert.

It's tradition that we take family photos and this year was no exception. Here are a few of the out-takes!  

First here's the kids with their sparkling cider.

Here are the Bannons!
Here we are! Next time we need to co-ordinate colors:0  
Here are the four kids.
Here are all of us adults. Cody is now 23 yrs old. Hard to believe he truly falls into the adult category now.

Here's Mackenzie with Tracy's dog Molly. I swear this dog has doggie down's syndrome. She is just not all there.
Now Casey, he's got it going on!!! This one is too smart for his own good. He sleeps with Katie and doesn't hesitate to still fish fillets off the counter when Tracy's not looking.

Christmas Day we spent the morning at home opening gifts. There's one picture that pretty much sums up Steven's X-mas and here it is!
Everything revolved around the X-box 360. We combined money from both Grandpa's to get him Rock Band 2. He also got the Avatar game along with a few I didn't really approve of but John thought they were ok. 

Mackenzie got an underwater camera for her big gift. She also got a new hair straightener, pj's, clothes, shoes, boots.....basically chick stuff.
  John got a new GPS system, a new pancake griddle, a Blue Ray player and I got a Cricut and some cartridges to go with. 

After presents we headed over to Ray and Darlene's for our usual Prime Rib dinner. I was in charge of bringing the shrimp cocktails, Tena brought a beautiful plate of x-mas cookies, Trish was in charge of bringing sugar free pies. It was actually pretty funny because she forgot to pick up her pies and then realized at the last minute. When she got to the store they had sold her pies but she was able to get a sugar free blueberry and a tiny cherry along with a chocolate pie. Reminded me of Grandpa Dahl! Of course all was fantastic. Needless to say I need to start counting my calories and get back on the program before I blow a few seams!

That's all for right now. I need to go get horizontal.

    

Desert Botanical Gardens- Las Noches de las Luminarias

Last Sunday we headed off to Desert Botanical Gardens to see Rachel Mudry play in the Bell Choir. Her group was preforming at the DBG during Las Noches de Las Luminarias. If you live in Arizona this is a fun night of entertainment and absolutely beautiful to see. The entire garden is lit with luminarias and as you wander through you come upon many different musical groups playing. Most are playing some christmas tunes in every set. Here are a few pictures from the evening.
This is the entrance to DBG where they still have a few remaining pieces of Chihully Glass. Not sure I spelled that correctly! 

 Here's a shot of a few of us outside the building where the bell choir was playing. The missing folks were off getting some hot chocolate:). 
This was out in the middle of no where on our way to hear the next group playing. Guess you really don't get a peaceful feeling from this picture but it was super quiet, stars and luminarias lighting the way. Pretty cool stuff.
Rachel is the second one from the right on the back row with the Reindeer horns on. This group was all 13 and 14 year olds from the Kyrene school district. They did a fantastic job.
Can you tell Steven is at the age where all the gross things like picking your nose are very entertaining??? For the life of me I can't remember the name of the artist who had many pieces of art positioned throughout the garden. It was very modern (not really my cup of tea). 

Here's a cute picture of Mackenzie using a piece of art as a frame.
Of course Steven must one up her!!!! Can you guess who he's trying to imitate??? Do you watch the show Glee? Yes, that would be Kurt Jr.
Here he is in another Kurt pose! For a good time call...........
  These were very cool metal stars with lights in them. Very rustic looking. I was trying to get a decent photo to send Ted because this is something he could make. He's so very talented in the metal arts. 
Steven and Drew in deep conversation:)

Since this time I've been going nuts trying to get out the last few x-mas cards, wrap gifts. Oh, did I mention I had a mouse in my house??? Yes, I had wrapped a number of presents but didn't put any names on them because of course I was making these special tags and didn't have them done yet. Well, I competed the tags and went to put them on the presents and noticed that each un-tagged gift had a little mouse hole in it! Actually, most likely it was a RAT but the name of STEVEN. No one has truly confessed to the crime but the rat was smiling when I so accused him of the damage. So, this prompted me to double triple wrap gifts in larger boxes, put weights ie. water bottles in gift boxes to throw the rat off the scent of possible gifts. This poor rat thinks he's really being shorted this X-mas! 

I must leave you now and go complete my x-mas cookies. The rat is a hungry boy.

December 6th.....and a month between posts!

Yes, I win the world's worst blogger award. Just when I get going at it life happens and I'm sidetracked again. Let's get caught up, shall we? 

Let's see.....John threw a little get together for my 50th birthday and invited close friends and family. I was actually pretty impressed with his outcome. I don't think he really had any idea how much work it was to throw together a little gathering but he pulled it off with just a little help from me.  The party had a wine theme and let's just say I'm totally stocked with wine...so come on over and join me for a glass.  John's gift to me is a trip to wine country together. Thanks to Jakie's sister, Kimmy, we have a line on a chauffeur, named George,to take us on the ultimate winery tour. Can't wait to plan it after the first of the year!!! 

 

The Awesome cake....chocolate with Cherry filling and Caramel topping....can't beat that!!!

 

The Wine Assortment

The Party throwers!!!!   

The next week Mackenzie had her swim banquet and was awarded the War Eagle award. She was pretty excited about her season. She dropped her times and had the second highest point total on her team. She's decided to swim year round with Mesa Aquatics Club and hopes to improve her strokes this year. She really has never had formal stroke training so this should be good for maintaining her overall fitness as well as getting some pointers on how to improve her strokes.

  This was the photo cake one of the parents made. Thought it turned out super cute.

We also had a little visit from Adam Jon during the month of November. Luckily the kids had the day off and the few hours we had him we managed to totally wear him out. He absolutely thought Steven's fort was to die for. Here's a few of the cute pics from his visit. 

Tell me he's just not the cutest thing you've ever seen!!!
 He carried this rake around all day long. No wonder the boy was TIRED!!! We all went out for Thai food after Jessie's doctors appointment and Adam was laying his head on the table. 
Adam worships Steven and is interested in anything Steven is doing. 

As far as Thanksgiving goes....we had are usual guests and had the pleasure of seeing Dave and Susan early in the day. They are always so much fun to have around. Susan gave Tena and I some new book recommendations and before you know it they had to leave. We're really hoping to get to their place in Florida this year. I was totally lame and didn't take a single photo. That reminds me I need to ask Dave to send those to me!!!

Black Friday John and I hit the stores and had a total blast shopping. Why we find this entertaining is beyond me except for the fact we both totally love a good bargain. We started out by hitting Walmart where I got what I wanted and we were out of the store and on our way to Sears tool department. We were fortunate enough to get a great deal on some new tools for work as well as a toolbox to store them in. While John was in line I walked down to Penny's where they had Clarks shoes on sale and got two pair for less than the regular price of one. Also scored on a pair of $90.00 boots for $29. They are all super comfy. So, I guess by this time is was only 4:30am. So we went back to bed for a few hours and then hit Office-max and bought the chairs we wanted for our office. Another great savings!!! The kids are almost done and I'm feeling pretty good about where I am for December 6th. 

Last night was the Winter Formal at Westwood. It was Sadie Hawkins style so it was up to Mackenzie to ask a boy out. I was really proud of her....I would have NEVER done this at her age! She asked a boy named Dalton who goes to another High School to go and he accepted her proposal. Here's a few pics from the evening. Dalton's mom happens to be a semi-professional photographer and she pretty much took over the photos for the evening. I'm waiting for her to e-mail me the results and I will share them later.  

A huge thanks to Alyssa for loaning Mackenzie this awesome dress and jewelry!!! As you can see she looked absolutely stunning.

 

Watching  college football waiting for Dalton to arrive. Oh yes, Dalton had his older brother chauffeur them to and from the dance and his dad told him he couldn't say a word to Dalton or Mackenzie!!!! 
 

   
 

 
 

Can you say X-mas???

Believe it or not I'm actually working on my x-mas cards and have about 20 made so far. The clock is ticking. I'm hoping to get another 40 made before Thanksgiving. I love being able to send out my cards Thanksgiving weekend. Mind you, that hasn't happened in recent years. I'm usually down to the wire. I need to come up with a really nice picture of the kids and that's usually the hold up. 

Anyway, I thought I would share a quick card with you today before I head off to the second day of the State swim meet and to the stamping convention. 

Here's a card I made a few weeks ago. I love the color combo.

So let's chat about the big 50 shall we?

Yes, it's true.....I'm now the big 50! Still 39 at heart:) It was actually a pretty depressing thing. Not sure why this hit me hard. Whatever the reason, it's now behind me and I'm movin' on. I've got a ton to accomplish in the next 20 years or so. I need to start crossing things off the bucket list! John is throwing a little 50th get together tomorrow night. He and the kids are off at Costco gathering supplies. 

Here's a few pics taken by my son on my 50th. Off course they are of me eating ice cream cake! 

Now onto bigger and better things like the Pioneer Woman! Yes, I went to her book signing the    
The cookbook is full of beautiful photos, fantastic recipes and good humor! I'm looking forward to whipping up some grub for the family. 

Off to do a bit of stamping:) I'll try to start posting some cards I've made recently in the next few days. 

Hello November!!!

Gosh, it's been a whirlwind around the Florence Household and my blog has been very neglected. I'm going to try to catch everyone up to speed on what has been going on around here. For one there's been lots of swimming. The big news is last weekend was the 2 day Regional meet and Mackenzie managed to place 4th in both the 100 Breast stroke and 200 medley relay in the East Valley region. She placed 5th for her 500. Best of all she dropped her times in both Breast and 500. Not sure about the medley. Because you have no idea how well other swimmers did in other regions it's always a question mark whether or not you qualify to swim at the State meet. Well, guess what? She qualified in both the 500 and the medley relay and is an alternate for the 100 breast stroke. Mackenzie was pretty stoked because just to qualify is an accomplishment! So this Friday and Saturday the State meet will be held at Kino Pool in Mesa. I'm planning on attending and watching some amazing swimming. Mackenzie's old duet partner, Emilee, also qualified. Here's a few pics:

Here she is swimming against her teammate, Joanie. They have been neck and neck all year long and Mackenzie ended up beating her to take the 4th place finish. Good thing is Joanie is a fast freestyle swimmer and had plenty of other events to keep her busy! 

Here the coaches are standing up fighting off the nerves....telling her to get moving!!!!

Meanwhile, Steven has been busy with some fort building in the back yard. He originally wanted to top off two trees and build two tree houses with a bridge in between, plumbing, electricity etc. That idea was put to rest but John agreed to help him create a fort out of pallets. Steven's very proud of it! He's cut trap doors, made sliding places where he can fire his airsoft gun etc. Basically, he's been residing in the back yard! Oh, and did I mention he got ahold of the spray paint to decorate? Take a look!

This isn't the latest photo. For some reason I can't find the most recent one. It is now a 2 story fort and has much more color to it!

For Halloween the Sprengers came over so Michael had someone to Trick or Treat with. Steven was unsure he was even going to go and ended up using his costume from last year. Michael went as the Phantom of the Opera. Believe it or not, Mackenzie's Homecoming Dance was on Halloween night. So after spending a long day at the pool she headed off to Homecoming. She was dateless. Her little boyfriend ditched her and she decided she'd probably have just as much fun going with a group of her friends. She ended up having a fabulous time! To make things even better she scored a dress at the Dillards outlet for $15.00 and then Tena mentioned Alyssa had a pair of brown sandals that would work perfectly for the dress. Let me just say...Justin you missed out on one fine looking girl!!!

 


 

Well, I must run the dog to the vet to have her ears checked. Will share more later!

A boy and his dog:)

Steven and Kelsey have always had a great relationship. The other day I had to laugh because they were both in the backyard. Steven had spray painted a box he had and then decided he'd get in the box and hold the dogs rope out the end of it. Well, following pictures tell the story! Temptation....will Kelsey notice the rope hanging out the end of the box??? Discovery! This looks like a fun game. Steven, hate to tell ya boy, that box is only going to save you so long! Game on:)
 I'm going to show you a thing or two little boy. Steven....anytime you want to give up is fine with me.

Ready for round 2! Next.

Now tell me, who could resist a face like this?

Darlene & Ray's 50th Wedding Anniversary

This past Saturday, September 26th, represented Darlene and Ray's 50th Wedding Anniversary. Tena, Trisha and Joe put together a party for their parents and my house was chosen as party central. It was a very fun time and I truly believe that Darlene and Ray really appreciated the effort. Tena hired Vito's, a local Italian Restaurant close to my house to cater the event. Let me tell you I was a bit surprised when Vito himself pulled up to unload the food! He was having so much fun talking to the guests that he ended up having a large glass of red wine before heading back to the restaurant. 

Trisha made some awesome appetizers....for the life of me I can't think of what they are called! Anyway, it was marinated fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil and grape tomato on a skewer. YUM!!! There were also a variety of cheeses, crackers, marinated olives and mushrooms. 

Ray and Darlene enjoying Trisha's commentary and toast!

The Party Planners!

Kenzie and Uncle Joe

These two were the bartenders for the evening and had a blast...also made $30 in tips. Too funny! 

The only negative to the evening was the temperature! 104 degrees and sizzling hot at 5pm. Other than that it was a very memorable and successful evening. 

It's been way too long!

Sorry about being such a blog slacker lately! It's finally starting to cool off and settle down in Arizona. Not sure where I left off in blog world but let me give you a brief fall update. 

Both Mackenzie and Steven are doing well in school. Steven has an awesome teacher, Mrs Wagner, and has some of his favorite friends in his classroom.  Garrett, Kira and Jessie are all in his class:). Steven's latest thing is making movies on the laptop. The other day he was laying on the trampoline dangling the dog's toy over the edge and filming with the camera as the dog struggled to get her rope back! He's been posting his creations and has a viewing audience of other T graders.....never know what's coming next with this boy. It's finally starting to cool off and I expect we'll be riding bikes and skateboarding soon.

Mackenzie has adjusted well to Westwood and has been enjoying the swim team. 

These two pictures were from Mesa Relays. The boys took 1st place in the wet t-shirt relay and the girls took 2nd and 3rd place. 

Kimmy turned 44 years old this year and Jackie and Matt had a little birthday celebration over at their house. Here's a few pictures from the birthday party.

It was really fun to have Kelsey Bullard up from U of A and to pretty much have all the kids together. I need to do a scrapbook page on how they've all grown up. I remember the very first year we went to Mexico.....the boys were so small. Pretty soon they will be towering over these girls.....at least most of them. Some one needs to put a rock on Rachel's head! She's going to be taller than the rest of us soon.

John's mom passed away September 15th. We were not totally surprised when we received the phone call because she had been failing for the last 4 months or so. Fortunately, John's older brother James and his wife Eloise lived right next door to Pearl and moved in with her when she couldn't live alone anymore. I so appreciate everything they have done the last few years. They have both made many sacrifices in order to provide Pearl with the best care. Pearl would have been 90 years old in November. 

Need to go jump in the shower.....we'll catch up more later this morning.