Friday, March 27, 2009

marching on...

the month of march has been a busy one...

what with taking on the babysitting job...

and getting into the real swing of things and crunch time with the mega meet (registration now open!)...

that alone is plenty to fill my plate - but I've been slowly but surely working on designing some scrapbook classes to teach in the area...and i've got four designed and a full schedule to teach them on two different Saturdays at The Scrapbook Zone in Farmington Hills...i'll probably do some of them on a few week nights around here, too...so if you're in my area, check it out...or catch me at the Zone!

Happiness is....Wall Hanging

Complete this unique transparent wall hanging featuring product from My Minds Eye new Bloom and Grow line. Project includes all product to complete your piece – all you need to add is your pictures – which because of this project’s design, you can easily change out as your mood suits!

Summer Fun Paper Garland


Ribbon, Flowers, Buttons and Bling Banner – this adorable paper banner would be perfect on a fireplace mantel, on a doorway or window, or just hanging on the wall! Actual project will vary from the image, will have a “Summer Fun!” theme and will, of course, include lots of ribbon, flowers, buttons and bling! Please bring scissors, trimmers, adhesive, including lots of small glue dots, and your favorite decorative scissors (yes, we’re going to use those!).

Bucket of Flowers


Want a flower centerpiece, but not one that has to be thrown away after a week? Make a cute paper one featuring some of the latest product on the market that will brighten up your table all spring and summer long!


Fun in the Sun altered tin and mini-album

Highlight your spring break or summer memories in a mini-album that can be tucked away into a cute, altered tin. This album has a place for up to a dozen pictures!

All classes are at the bargain price of just $20 each and last from 1 to 2 hours.

Monday, March 23, 2009

indy 500

it's not quite 500 miles to indianapolis from here (though driving with 4 kids it can seem like it is!) but we packed into the car for a road-trip weekend to visit my aunt and uncle. it had been a few years since we'd spent some time there, and the kids had a four-day weekend (conferences), so it seemed like a good time to skip town...and man oh man, did we have fun!

our first adventure was the children's museum...holy smokes, you could spend DAYS in there...lots of great things to do and see...


the dinosphere...full of dino bone replicas...and the sphere has 'storms', which molly will be quick to tell you about...and an excavating area...really cool.

and the lego exhibit - we spent a great deal of time in here, too...great lego castles and games to play...and, of course, building with legos!

how did she know to sit there?

the comic book display was also really impressive...lilly is flying through the sky.

other rooms with water tables and learning to juggle and race cars and stilts and miniature rooms and a really cool water clock...and well...it was cool.

if you find yourself in indy, you should get yourself to the museum. even without kids.

our remaining adventures were confined to my aunt and uncle's property....lots of movies (i bought twilight the day it came out) and kicking the soccer ball or throwing the frisbee...


'tractor rides' - i think porter might ask santa for a tractor for christmas...of course, most of the fun came when uncle doug decided he would switch from forward to reverse without porter knowing!

or making 'erasers' - they're not really going to fulfill their erasing duties very well, but they sure are cute!

and well....we were all pretty tired by the end of it all!

Monday, March 16, 2009

out of the house!

the jalandoni family joined us for another fun filled weekend! we actually went out...like out of the house...with just grown ups....to a restaurant...and a casino...it was great!

we did some family outings, too...like to the butterfly gardens...

some kids were ready and willing to have a butterfly interaction...

others were not...


then we took everyone to the leisure pool to wear them out before we left them in the capable teenage hands of the jalandoni children...

that's when the grown ups headed to the dueling piano bar and then to the casino. it had been MANY years since i was at a piano bar...and it just so happened that a friend of the jalandoni's was one of the performers...and when we got there, the table RIGHT in front of the pianos was available...and so we planted ourselves there and enjoyed our time away. dinner out was great, and the side trip at the casino didn't result in job-ending wealth, but was fun nonetheless. i did get a bonus several times on Mr. Lucky, and that alone is worth the trip!

the next day brought a trip to the mall food court for lunch...which for some reason is a favorite of the jalandoni's when they visit...not that they don't live in the land of the mall food court, but for some reason, ours is 'special'.

I have yet to figure out what it is exactly that porter is doing with his beans from taco bell in this picture...

while we were there, i also obliged lilly's long standing request for a hair cut...and got a trim myself.
a busy, and yet, relaxing weekend with friends.

Friday, March 06, 2009

my new "job"

i have another baby....not my baby...but a baby...that is here now, every 'working day' during the week.

this picture pretty much sums up how the other kids feel about having a baby here everyday.

Now, before you ask...refer to this post - no, we are not going to have any more kids.

The kids are a big help. The baby is pretty laid back. In fact, some days I think I'm robbing his parents by accepting money from them...and then he spits up or poops, or worse, and i remember why they're paying me.

we're not sure how permanent or temporary this situation is...but for right now, this kid seems pretty happy to be in the chaos of our home.

Thursday, March 05, 2009

superior intellect

can most 2 year olds do this??

KQOTD:

Maya: Mom, do you remember that I want my ears pierced for my birthday?

Mom: Yes, Maya...but you have to be 8 years old... (she'll only be 7 this year)

Molly: I want my ears pierced on MY birthday (holding hands to ears)

Dad: Okay, Molly....but you have to be 8. How old are you now?

Molly: SEVEN!

saving lives

in a process that started many, many months ago...by best friend, and pediatrician, lynn, has embarked on a year-long mission with Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

with just about one month's notice, she received her assignment that she would be sent to rural India for a year...lynn has traveled the globe sharing her medical expertice in haiti, australia, africa, and along the arizona/mexican border. and now she's packed up her life and just arrived to start saving lives in india...

we took the family for a great going-away gathering at her mom's house in mid-february...

here she is with her dog that will be cared for by her mother for the year she is gone...


through the beauty of the internet, it looks like we'll be able to communicate while she's gone...which is great, to say the least!

she has been updating her friends and family on her adventures via her facebook page, and after reading today, i thought i'd share a bit of her story - as it is so easy to forget what life is like in other parts of the world. and while our economy is struggling, which is no small matter, it is not what other countries and the citizens have to face.

we live in a world with clean water. grocery stores. health care.

and so throughout this year, as some of her stories strike me, i will include them here. i hope you enjoy...

Woah! Delhi is nuts. Don't get me wrong; I like it, but it's busy, crowded, dusty, and full of honking horns. People here have been fantastic. No sigh-seeing yet, maybe tomorrow. More briefings - and in a nutshell, my job is to help start an MSF hospital, including outpatient and inpatient pediatrics, and inpatient maternal health. No hospital building yet, but lots of plans. I'll keep you posted! We also do 5 mobile clinics a week, walking about 40km a week total, carrying 10kg of stuff (mmm..Plumpy Nut pre-fab kid food) and hacking through a jungle. Can't wait! :)

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

memories

i have very few memories of my great-grandma Reichard. in fact, in my mind, it's a few tidbits all associated with one visit with her, though i don't really know if they are all actually from the same visit.

i remember visiting her in her assisted living apartment. she had just gotten one of those recliner chairs that can lift you to help you get to a standing position.

we ordered pizza for dinner and she made a joke about how her doctor didn't want her to eat it, but because we were there, she was going to anyway.

she had a rosary on a table next to her TV watching chair. i remember asking her what it was and she explained it to me.

and...unfortunately...that's about all i remember.

but there is something i've never had of her...a picture.

i've only had the memories in my mind...and the visions of her from photos that other family members have displayed in their homes.

the most 'famous' of those is one that was a professional photo, taken with her and my great-grandfather...of whom i have no memory at all (i was extraordinarily young when he died).

and the other day, a most generous gift was bestowed upon me. i know the giver probably has no idea how much i appreciate her thinking of me as the new owner of this picture.


to have an actual photo now, to go with my memories...it's priceless to me.

as a scrapbooker, i record my memories through photos...and it is the hope that the photos and written memories together bring out that prism of our lives - once presented to me by the ever-impressive Stacy Julian - our memories alone are white light...but combine those memories with photos and meaningful words about them...and it becomes a prism. the true beauty that is our lives...whether you're scrapbooking a new baby, or just the contents of your refrigerator...or the limited memories of a great-grandmother that might otherwise go unrecorded...without the image that goes with it.

thank you, aunt elyce, for passing along this picture to me.
it means more to me that you will ever know.

Sunday, March 01, 2009

project 365 - part two

february's selection of project 365 pictures

the smattering of shoes and boots at the back door...it doesn't look like this every day, but close...


at hi-way pizza in state college, pa with family after aunt gloria's funeral


at my aunt & uncle's...gathering with family for uncle jim's funeral


girls weekend in grand haven


molly at the mcdonald's playplace