Since making the design team at Scrapdango, I have been anxiously awaiting my first kit to work with for Sept., but unfortunately it will not make it before I leave for Sunriver tomorrow, so I will have something to look forward to when I get back. What is going on there though right now is a contest for the October guest designer. If you're a scrapper and would like one of their great kits to work with for October, check out this post and submit. You never know until you give it a try or a few tries.
Also, they have a crop coming up this weekend. They will post challenges all weekend long from the old and new DT members. There will be chances to win gift cards and prizes during the crop. I love online crops because they actually motivate me to get scrapping done at home, which used to never happen. Check out this post and come join the fun and get some layouts done. I will not be around during the crop since I'll be in Sunriver, but you have until the end of the week to post layouts and I will be checking in after I get back. Head on over to Scrapdango and check out what else is going on and see some amazing talent from all the members and DT.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Family Time
Once again, it's been awhile since I've posted. Two weekends ago, we had our annual McDonald/Reust family reunion. Like last year, it was at Grandpa Mike and Grandma Carol's property in Washougal, so it was very convenient for us. We were a little more prepared this year than last with more blankets and such to keep us warm in our tent. What was different from last year was that it was cooler and actually rained Friday night and some rain got into the tent despite having the rain cover on. It didn't bother me until Dale woke up in the middle of the night after realizing his pillow was soaked and went all around the tent trying to soak up puddles with towels and block where it was coming in. Despite the cooler, wetter weather, the kids still spent a good amount of time in the pool and they fished in Grandpa's stocked pond. The fish weren't biting quite like they did last year, but Justin did catch a 19-1/2 incher left over from last year and some smaller ones. Hannah caught a couple including one of the few brown trout in the pond. The others were rainbow. The majority of our time was spent chasing Owen around and making sure he wasn't jumping in a pool or the pond. He was obsessed with the fish and froggies around the pond.
After having a weekend off and a few of us actually feeling a bit under the weather, we are off tomorrow for a week in Sunriver, OR. I am ready for a little relaxation. I'll post about that when we return.
After having a weekend off and a few of us actually feeling a bit under the weather, we are off tomorrow for a week in Sunriver, OR. I am ready for a little relaxation. I'll post about that when we return.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Another Anniversary Gift
Dale and I didn't really get each other gifts this year besides our weekend away and buying the hand blown vase, but I did get a separate gift on my anniversary.
In the scrapbooking world, there are a couple things people strive for--to be published (which I did get 2 more layouts published in an online ezine this month) and to be chosen for design team. I've tried out for a few design teams for online kit clubs but had no luck until now. I've been involved in a month long contest at Scrapdango and on Monday, got a call from the site owner to find out I was chosen as one of the new team members. Although, I probably didn't sound very excited to her (I'm not one of those people who screams and yells on the phone--a radio station would hate for me to win a contest), but I am ecstatic. So what does it mean to be on a design team? Well, each month, I'll get a kit of great scrapbooking goodies to work with. I'll put together layouts and other projects with the kit to be posted on the site when they reveal the new kit. I will also be responsible for being on the message board to encourage and inspire others. That's just a small taste of my responsiblity. I'm sure I'll learn more of what it entails in the coming month. I'm really excited to get my first kit to work with within a week or so. This is definitely a new venture in my scrapbooking "career."
In the scrapbooking world, there are a couple things people strive for--to be published (which I did get 2 more layouts published in an online ezine this month) and to be chosen for design team. I've tried out for a few design teams for online kit clubs but had no luck until now. I've been involved in a month long contest at Scrapdango and on Monday, got a call from the site owner to find out I was chosen as one of the new team members. Although, I probably didn't sound very excited to her (I'm not one of those people who screams and yells on the phone--a radio station would hate for me to win a contest), but I am ecstatic. So what does it mean to be on a design team? Well, each month, I'll get a kit of great scrapbooking goodies to work with. I'll put together layouts and other projects with the kit to be posted on the site when they reveal the new kit. I will also be responsible for being on the message board to encourage and inspire others. That's just a small taste of my responsiblity. I'm sure I'll learn more of what it entails in the coming month. I'm really excited to get my first kit to work with within a week or so. This is definitely a new venture in my scrapbooking "career."
12 Years!
It's official, Dale and I have been married a dozen years as of Monday August 4th. It's been a great 12 years and I look forward to a few dozen more. We have been so blessed with everything in our lives including our kiddos, home, other family and friends. To celebrate, we got away for the weekend to the OR coast while Grandma Judi watched the kids. It was so wonderful and relaxing. While windy, as expected, the weather was beautiful with tons of sunshine. We stayed in a bed and breakfast with a view of the ocean. We pretty much didn't do much of anything. We, of course, walked along the beach and looked in the shops in Newport even though we've been in them all many times before. We did discover a section of town (Nye Beach) we had never been too before with a lot of cute shops--at least to me. I'm sure Dale didn't care much about most of them, but he is a good sport to go into most of them with me. We also headed a little south of Newport to Seal Rock where there is a nice beach that is somewhat shielded by the wind, so we just sat and relaxed and read on the beach for quite awhile. There is also a neat little slot between two big rocks where the waves come in and then as the water runs out, you hear all the pebbles rolling around. It's the greatest sound. Last time we were there, we hung out in that slot for awhile, but it was a bit of a windtunnel on Saturday, so we didn't stay in there too long. We also visited a glass blowing shop and watched a guy do some glass blowing. I wanted to have a custom vase made while we watched, but there was too long a line, so we settled on buying a premade vase. I really want to start collecting blown glass, which probably isn't the best collection to have with 3 young kids, but I guess we want to live on the edge. Right before heading home, we went to Depot Bay and walked along the sea wall and visited some of the shops. It's not as nice a town as Newport, but we did see gray whales just off the shore--you pretty much just see the blow hole spray and a little of the back. There were quite a few of them out there.
View from the deck at the B&B
The slot at Seal Rock
Relaxin' on the beach at Seal Rock
Sunset from the B&B
The happy couple
View from the deck at the B&B
The slot at Seal Rock
Relaxin' on the beach at Seal Rock
Sunset from the B&B
The happy couple
Monday, July 28, 2008
Owen turns 2!!!!
Owen turned 2 yesterday. I can't believe it. All of a sudden, he even seemed taller and much more grown up. He has really changed so much in the past few months--mainly with all the talking he's doing. He's picking up new words left and right and just amazes us with some of the things he says. He is such a little man.
We had a party Saturday with family including Grandma Sharon who left that evening to go back to Indiana (we miss her, especially Hannah) and Grandpa Robert and Grandma Pom who came down from Seattle and then spent Saturday night. Grandma Judi and Grandpa Mike and Grandma Carol (we definitely don't have a shortage of grandparents) were here and all the aunts, uncles and cousins. We had a bbq and then just had presents and cake, which Owen couldn't have cared less about. Not really thinking, I made the party for 1:00 pm, right around his naptime, so by 2:00, he was pretty cranky. I tried to distract him with opening presents, which we were doing outside, but instead, he walked over to the little inflatable pool we have where his cousin was playing, stepped right in and sat down and started swimming with all his clothes and regular diaper on. He was a wildman. He was getting out of the pool and running and belly flopping into it. We were just cracking up. Of course his diaper got about 4 times larger--man those things hold a lot of water--but I knew if I didn't get it off of him, it would start to break open and all that gel goo comes out. His brother, sister and cousins opened all his gifts, which he then got interested in because there were lots of trucks and cars, which are his obsession right now. Then we did cake, which he wasn't into at all, so they blew the candles out for that too. After taking another dip in the pool, he then had fun lining all his new cars and trucks up and playing with those for hours.
Dale had to take Grandma Sharon to the airport, but the fun didn't stop because Grandpa Robert and Grandma Pom were here and brought toys and activities for Hannah and Justin as well. They brought an awesome kite, which we flew a little, but it wasn't quite windy enough to keep it up. It will be great fun at the coast. And they also brough a remote control airplane, which Grandpa and Justin had fun playing with out in the field. There were numerous times it went in a neighbors backyard though, and since they weren't home, they had to keep sneaking in to get, which Hannah thought was not a good idea. Hannah and Pom had fun making beaded necklaces and bracelets and paper flowers. It was a fun, although exhausting, birthday party and week/weekend with grandparents, Now, we are back to normal, whatever that is. We are doing the last week of swimming lessons. It was really nice to have Sharon here to help take them to those because Owen is not content to sit and watch them swim. Tonight Hannah and Justin start vacation bible school at our church for a week. The fun just keeps coming.
We had a party Saturday with family including Grandma Sharon who left that evening to go back to Indiana (we miss her, especially Hannah) and Grandpa Robert and Grandma Pom who came down from Seattle and then spent Saturday night. Grandma Judi and Grandpa Mike and Grandma Carol (we definitely don't have a shortage of grandparents) were here and all the aunts, uncles and cousins. We had a bbq and then just had presents and cake, which Owen couldn't have cared less about. Not really thinking, I made the party for 1:00 pm, right around his naptime, so by 2:00, he was pretty cranky. I tried to distract him with opening presents, which we were doing outside, but instead, he walked over to the little inflatable pool we have where his cousin was playing, stepped right in and sat down and started swimming with all his clothes and regular diaper on. He was a wildman. He was getting out of the pool and running and belly flopping into it. We were just cracking up. Of course his diaper got about 4 times larger--man those things hold a lot of water--but I knew if I didn't get it off of him, it would start to break open and all that gel goo comes out. His brother, sister and cousins opened all his gifts, which he then got interested in because there were lots of trucks and cars, which are his obsession right now. Then we did cake, which he wasn't into at all, so they blew the candles out for that too. After taking another dip in the pool, he then had fun lining all his new cars and trucks up and playing with those for hours.
Dale had to take Grandma Sharon to the airport, but the fun didn't stop because Grandpa Robert and Grandma Pom were here and brought toys and activities for Hannah and Justin as well. They brought an awesome kite, which we flew a little, but it wasn't quite windy enough to keep it up. It will be great fun at the coast. And they also brough a remote control airplane, which Grandpa and Justin had fun playing with out in the field. There were numerous times it went in a neighbors backyard though, and since they weren't home, they had to keep sneaking in to get, which Hannah thought was not a good idea. Hannah and Pom had fun making beaded necklaces and bracelets and paper flowers. It was a fun, although exhausting, birthday party and week/weekend with grandparents, Now, we are back to normal, whatever that is. We are doing the last week of swimming lessons. It was really nice to have Sharon here to help take them to those because Owen is not content to sit and watch them swim. Tonight Hannah and Justin start vacation bible school at our church for a week. The fun just keeps coming.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Almost midnight
It's 1 minute to Midnight on Monday night (Tuesday morning). I'm the only one up and am attempting to scrap. I just finished a page. It didn't quite turn out as I envisioned in my head. I maybe need to go to bed and come back to it tomorrow. Actually, as I look at it again, I think it's starting to grow on me. Anyway, I've been scrapping a little this weekend. Personal Scrapper was having an online crop, and over at Scrapdango, I've been participating in a contest. Here are some photos of the layouts I've done for that and for the online crop.
I even did a sketch for the contest and then the Birthday Boy layout is based on that sketch except I ended up using 4 photos in the bottom instead of 3. I can't even stick to my own sketch. Go figure.
Grandma Sharon is here visiting us now much to the childrens' delight. She came on Friday and will be here until Saturday evening. She will be here for Owen's birthday party that day. It's always great having her. She definitely helps keep the children entertained, so it's nice for Dale and I as well--not that we don't like to entertain our children, but you know...
Other than that, there is not much going on. Hannah and Justin had swimming lessons the past two weeks (every day) and are going to be doing them for 2 more weeks. It will be nice that Grandma can take them this week, and I don't have to take Owen because keeping him occupied around the pool is not fun. It is amazing how much they have learned already. Hannah is swimming across the pool and Justin is so comfortable in water now where before he didn't want his face wet and is starting to swim.
Tomorrow, I actually get to go and use the Mother's Day gift that Dale got me, which was a 3 hour spa package with a 1 hour massage, 1 hour facial and 1 hour pedicure. It will be wonderful. The bad thing about going to the spa though and then having to come straight home (opposed to doing it at a resort where you stay--not that I've even done that) is that as soon as you walk in the door and the kids run up screaming about something, you're suddenly jolted back into reality and all that relaxation goes out the window. It will be wonderful while it lasts though.
Well, I think I'm going to head off to bed. I am going to leave you with a few parting shots that I took last week when Hannah and Owen were playing together on the slide. Owen discovered that he could walk up the slide and slide down, first with the help of Hanney (what he calls her) and then on his own. Also, Hannah started twirling in her new dress that Daddy picked out at the Gap Outlet.
And I was talking about Hannah and Justin swimming--well even though he can't take lessons yet (by himself anyway), Owen also loves to swim and, at least at this point, shows no fear of water.
I even did a sketch for the contest and then the Birthday Boy layout is based on that sketch except I ended up using 4 photos in the bottom instead of 3. I can't even stick to my own sketch. Go figure.
Grandma Sharon is here visiting us now much to the childrens' delight. She came on Friday and will be here until Saturday evening. She will be here for Owen's birthday party that day. It's always great having her. She definitely helps keep the children entertained, so it's nice for Dale and I as well--not that we don't like to entertain our children, but you know...
Other than that, there is not much going on. Hannah and Justin had swimming lessons the past two weeks (every day) and are going to be doing them for 2 more weeks. It will be nice that Grandma can take them this week, and I don't have to take Owen because keeping him occupied around the pool is not fun. It is amazing how much they have learned already. Hannah is swimming across the pool and Justin is so comfortable in water now where before he didn't want his face wet and is starting to swim.
Tomorrow, I actually get to go and use the Mother's Day gift that Dale got me, which was a 3 hour spa package with a 1 hour massage, 1 hour facial and 1 hour pedicure. It will be wonderful. The bad thing about going to the spa though and then having to come straight home (opposed to doing it at a resort where you stay--not that I've even done that) is that as soon as you walk in the door and the kids run up screaming about something, you're suddenly jolted back into reality and all that relaxation goes out the window. It will be wonderful while it lasts though.
Well, I think I'm going to head off to bed. I am going to leave you with a few parting shots that I took last week when Hannah and Owen were playing together on the slide. Owen discovered that he could walk up the slide and slide down, first with the help of Hanney (what he calls her) and then on his own. Also, Hannah started twirling in her new dress that Daddy picked out at the Gap Outlet.
And I was talking about Hannah and Justin swimming--well even though he can't take lessons yet (by himself anyway), Owen also loves to swim and, at least at this point, shows no fear of water.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Happy Belated 4th of July
Hope you all had a great weekend celebrating our Independence Day (for those of you who are US citizens, which I'm assuming is most who would read this--but you never know). For you Canadians, Happy belated Canada Day a few days prior. Also, Happy belated birthday to Grandpa Harold who was "Born on the 4th of July." He actually was in Canada on his birthday but came home over the weekend from his annual fishing trip.
To celebrate the 4th, we did our usual, which is going to my mom's out in Washougal, where she has a prime spot overlooking Washougal down to the river where they set off a display, but many of the ones just going off everywhere around us in the neighborhood below were almost as impressive. We were pretty much surrounded by fireworks. We bought our fair share--it ends up to be more and more each year. Usually my brother stocks up and puts on quite a display, but he didn't buy any this year, so we had to rely on ourselves for our own entertainment. Really we could just watch what everyone else does and save ourselves some money, but the kids (well Hannah and Justin) love setting them off. They can hardly stand to wait to wait for it to be barely dark enough to start setting them off. Owen wasn't so thrilled with the "Pop pops." He liked the pretties, but not when they were noisy. Once we were done with ours though and just watching the ones around us, he was fine. All in all, it was a good day and a very lazy weekend that followed. Dale did take Hannah and Justin to see Kung Fu Panda on Saturday, which they all enjoyed. Today we started swimming lessons for 2 weeks for Hannah and Justin. Other than that, there isn't much else going on right now.
I have been taking a break from running for a couple weeks to see if my knee can heal more and then I can get back into it. Running the 1/2 marathon a month ago went so well, but my knee was really bothering me after that, so I just decided I need to stop altogether for awhile. It's been hard because every weekend, I feel like I should be out there with the group. Hopefully I can get back into it or else I'm going to have to take up some other endurance sport like cycling--and I thought running shoes and other gear was expensive!!
Here are some pics from the 4th:
Here's one of Owen wrestling with Daddy. Won't be long before he'll be takin' him down.
To celebrate the 4th, we did our usual, which is going to my mom's out in Washougal, where she has a prime spot overlooking Washougal down to the river where they set off a display, but many of the ones just going off everywhere around us in the neighborhood below were almost as impressive. We were pretty much surrounded by fireworks. We bought our fair share--it ends up to be more and more each year. Usually my brother stocks up and puts on quite a display, but he didn't buy any this year, so we had to rely on ourselves for our own entertainment. Really we could just watch what everyone else does and save ourselves some money, but the kids (well Hannah and Justin) love setting them off. They can hardly stand to wait to wait for it to be barely dark enough to start setting them off. Owen wasn't so thrilled with the "Pop pops." He liked the pretties, but not when they were noisy. Once we were done with ours though and just watching the ones around us, he was fine. All in all, it was a good day and a very lazy weekend that followed. Dale did take Hannah and Justin to see Kung Fu Panda on Saturday, which they all enjoyed. Today we started swimming lessons for 2 weeks for Hannah and Justin. Other than that, there isn't much else going on right now.
I have been taking a break from running for a couple weeks to see if my knee can heal more and then I can get back into it. Running the 1/2 marathon a month ago went so well, but my knee was really bothering me after that, so I just decided I need to stop altogether for awhile. It's been hard because every weekend, I feel like I should be out there with the group. Hopefully I can get back into it or else I'm going to have to take up some other endurance sport like cycling--and I thought running shoes and other gear was expensive!!
Here are some pics from the 4th:
Here's one of Owen wrestling with Daddy. Won't be long before he'll be takin' him down.
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