Behind the Scenes

Happy #11 Steven!!!!

 

Here's my boy showing off his newly acquired skate board. Pretty much the only thing he wanted for his birthday. We also bought him a new pair of shoes and I was hoping to get out and purchase the hat he's shown some interest in too but with all this sickness going around I haven't left the house. 

This morning Steven's cousins from Montana called to wish him a Happy Birthday....I was pretty much out of it when I answered the phone. I originally thought it was one of Steven's little girlfriends from school.Thanks Syd for thinking of Steven. He thought it was pretty cool when I told him you called.

I woke up at 11:30pm to John loosing his cookies in the bathroom. The man had it bad!!! I will not go into detail....war zone comes to mind when describing the bathroom. Mackenzie and I are saying our prayers!!!! Steven is fever free this morning...yeah! I'm the queen of all things Lysol at the moment!

In other news......here's a card I made a few weeks ago that I haven't shared. 

Made with B & J Art Stamps. They were at the Stamping Convention a few weeks back. Love there Western Stamps and thought this would be a good masculine card. Now I just need a flashy little sentiment to go inside:).

Oh, and as promised here's a few of the many photos I took of flowers at the Desert Botanical Gardens.          

Spring Break comes to an end!

This morning I was looking forward to sleeping in the last day of Spring Break, no 7am pool delivery, the last day before we get back on schedule.....well, that was not to be because I woke up to Steven puking in the bathroom at 4am. Needless to say, I wasn't able to go back to sleep. The poor kid had numerous bouts and was in the bathroom a good part of the morning. I think he's finally made the turn and has spent the day sleeping on the couch. I'm praying he's ready to go back to school tomorrow and that non of the rest of us catch this awful stuff. The waiting game begins!!! 

Mackenzie has spent a good part of the week working on her biography for Mr Haney's class. She's been so busy with the Watershow and West Zones. Now she's finally caught up. She has just the final touches to do and then she can put that bad boy to bed. Yeah!!

Earlier this week we did manage to shop one day at Chandler Mall in preparation for two birthdays this week. We bought Steven a new skate board....with upgraded bearings. He's been sleeping with it since I'm a mean mom and won't let him use it until Tuesday! Steven also got a new pair of shoes because the ones I bought 90 days ago have a huge hole in the bottom of them.

Mackenzie also found a new pair of shoes and some clothes. Nothing major for her although we are planning on purchasing a new computer, laptop, soon. There's been too many times lately that I need to be on the computer and so does she.

Friday night, thanks  my good friend, Karrie, we got into the Desert Botanical Gardens to see the Chihuly Glass Exhibit. It's totally amazing!!!! If you live in the Phoenix Metro area you need to get over to see it before May 31st. Seriously folks, it's worth it! Between Mackenzie and I we took over 300 photos. Here's a few of my favs.

                  

I have more to share tomorrow....the wildflowers were absolutely beautiful!

Notice, my new blog look....that's also due to Karrie! She's the best!!! Thank you, Karrie:)

Catching up with things........

last week was one of those weeks you hope not to have too often. Wednesday morning we discovered the hard drive on my computer at work took a dump. Never good, but when it's been two weeks since your last back up......it's really not good:). I won't be doing that again! These things always seem to happen when you are your absolute craziest. That was certainly the case. I spent yesterday putting things back together and I have State Tile Quickbooks about 80% back and haven't started on the Dana/John QB's yet.

Saturday was the annual Water show for the Arizona Aqua Stars. We had a wonderful turn out! It was about 80 degrees out side and life was good! The girls put on an awesome show, the pool looked great, there were awesome silent auction prizes. We as a family had 27 people guests......4 of them were my new friends from the Grand Court Knitters club.

From left to right they are Joan, Corrine, Jo and Linda (she used to work at the Grand Court). The ladies loved the show. Jo, the one in green,  (95 years old) reminds me of my dear Grandma Dahl. She's raised four very successful boys, loves to read, is an awesome knitter and believes in educating your children.  Joan, is the youngest of the three ladies at 75 and on the welcoming committee. Corrine, the one in the middle, just turned 95 in February. I get such a kick out of these gals...they are up beat and positive. Love them! Oh, and Linda's not half bad herself:) She's very talented. She can crochet up a storm.

Anyway, here are a few more pictures from the show.

 This is the entire Aqua Star team before the program started. We were trying to get a picture to put on the Thank You plaque for the Outback Steakhouse. This is the third year they have sponsored our fund raising lunch. So, if you are wanting to eat at Outback please visit Hollywood at the McKellips and Gilbert Rd location!

 

         

Of course the famous Aqua Dad's did their performance! We had some new recruits this year so that was a good thing. Bad thing was the diving boards weren't in action.......oh well.     

These last two photos were sent to me by my cousin Tena. The first photo is of Alyssa, Mackenzie, Riley and Katie. The second is of Michael and Mackenzie. There's always a war going on about who's the tallest......I think Michael has finally surpassed Kenzie. They fight like brother and sister.....only 10 months a part in age. 

Aqua Stars Rock the West!

The Arizona Aqua Stars rocked the 2009 West Zone Championship in Sacramento California this past weekend. The team won the High Point Award. Head Coach Jill Parr and 13-15 Coach Jessica McMahon should be extremely proud of their accomplishments:). As far as Mackenzie is concerned her 13-15 team placed first in routine score but dropped to second place overall due to figures. Not bad considering 5 out of the 8 girls are new to the 13-15 age group! Mackenzie's duet with Emilee came in 4th place as well as her trio with Lindsey and Caitlin. I'm very proud of how far they've come in such a short amount of time. Jessica didn't come back to coach until December. Looking forward to traveling to Nationals in Gainesville, Florida this year.

I have to run off to work........more to post later about the stamping convention.

Friday.......thank goodness!

It's been crazy busy around here. I dropped Mackenzie at the airport yesterday about 12:30 pm. She's off to Sacramento for the West Zone Championships. She will be back on Sunday and I'm hoping she and the other Aqua Stars do very well at this meet:).

Steven and I took advantage of not having to chauffeur Mackenzie to the pool and spent the afternoon outside. I pruned until the green barrel was full. There's still lots more to do:) Meanwhile, Steven entertained Kelsey and did some tricks on the skateboard. Then Steven and I went down the street and checked out the foreclosure house. It's pretty sad that weeds are now about a foot high and the pool is full and green! So sad. Please someone (aka Karrie) make an offer!!! They left all their brand new stainless steel appliances.

On a more positive note........I'm going to post two cards today. Both of these were made from my new favorite set from Papertrey called Freinds till the end. Love it!

   

So what do you think of this lovely set??? No, Piot you can't borrow it anytime soon:) LOL I'm still playing with it!

So today in school the entire 5th grade got "the talk". Steven has been worried about this for the last week. I told him to please talk to his Dad if he had any questions. Well, I pick him and his friend up from school today and they made me laugh so hard. They are sitting in the back seat and first informed me they were now armed with deoderant. Steven then said he felt there were things he didn't need to know about like "wet dreams"! HELLO......I didn't need to hear that:). More details were shared...not fit for the blog! Where's his father when I need him? 

On that note.......Happy Friday Everyone! 

Another Bunny Post

I had a blast playing with Karrie's sets from the Cat's Pajamas. Here's another card I made last Friday.

Birthdays, Anniversary's and more Birthdays!!!

March is a crazy month for us as far as birthdays go:

March 1 - Dennis Kirby Joseph Griffin age too old to be told haha

March 2- Trish Doktor.....approaching the big one:) or should I say enjoying her late 40's.

March 3rd- HAPPY BIRTHDAY Matt Gully......today you are past the BIG ONE!

March 6th-Katie Bannon turns 8 I believe.

March 9th- My Anniversary......how did I make it this far? 18 years of Bliss LOL.

March 17th- Happy St Patty's Day

March 19th- Happy Anniversary Tena & Mike

March 24th- Steven turns 11

March 26th- Mackenzie turns 15

March 27th- Dave Welch's happy day

Did I forget anyone??? I certainly hope not:)

Here's one of the cards I made while stamping with Karrie and Trina the other day. The saying cracks me up!

 

Sorry about the no post yesterday. I do have a few more cards to show you so stay tuned! 

Furious February right into March Madness!

What can I say........I've been busy!!! What ever possessed me to paint the inside of my house by myself (actually my Dad has helped a bit) is beyond me. I do know I've been rewarding myself with a few new stamp sets! LOL  So far I've painted both hallways, kids bathroom, dining room, family room, half the front entryway and am now moving on to the kitchen. I'm just lightening that up a shade. It was a bit too drastic of a color change.

Besides the above huge project I've been buried in Meet Entries. Synchro is kicking into high gear and all I can do is barely keep up with keeping my head above water. Last weekend Mackenzie and I spent all weekend at the Cactus Classic Meet in Scottsdale. It was absolutely beautiful weather. The only negative is we actually have too many girls in the sport and it takes forever!!!! Saturday we were at the pool from 8am until 9pm and then back the next morning at 8am. Needless to say we were exhausted by the end of the weekend. Steven lucked out and only had to go to John's softball games. Here's a few shots from the weekend. 

This is Mackenzie's Trio......we hope they go far this year. They should make it to Nationals without any trouble.

   This second shot is of Mackenzie and her duet partner Emilee. They swam together last year and it's been a great match up. They get along beautifully and are very similar in body style. They didn't get a great draw for West Zones, but we are keeping our fingers crossed!.

   

These last two shots are of the 13-15 team. They are swimming to Rock around the Clock. The team has only 3 girls, Mackenzie, Jaime and Courtney who have swam in this age group before. We are still hoping they go far. We are fortunate to have an excellent coach.

Fast forward to this weekend........friend Karrie and her sister Trina came over Friday for a stamping date. Trina's three kids also came and Steven was in hog heaven with Chase, Trina's 10 year old boy. Steven also really thought McKayla and Audrey were the bomb too! He was very impressed with McKayla's organizational skills. She spent hours organzing Steven's legos by color. Thank you McKayla!!!! Sure hope I spelled your name right:). Mackenzie was a bit upset that she couldn't stay home a bond. She did manage to chat with the girls a bit before and after practice. Steven would like to know when they all could come over again for an extended play date. Can you believe I didn't take any pics of the kids together. A missed opportunity!!!

I did however take some photos of the cards I made!!! It was a pretty good stamping day except for the fact that Karrie and Trina had stayed up way too late the night before and didn't have it in them to do a marathon of stamping. Karrie still managed to crank out something like 15 cards, Trina took a nap and came up with 7 original designs an I think I made 10 cards with a few i still need to assemble. Not bad!!! Here's a peak at one of the cards.