The Season Begins...

This week is the first week of Spring soccer.
Cheryl plays on two teams: an adult co-ed team (BOB) and an AYSO team. Her adult team has to have at least 4 women on the field. Unfortunately, only two women were there at the start of the game, so the team had to play two players down. By the time the other two women showed up, the team was down 0-2. Cheryl played the whole game and she played hard... she ended up taking the skin off the back of both of her heels.

Cheryl's AYSO game didn't go any better. Cheryl can hardly run with her ruined heels. This team also ended up losing 0-2.

Chris was amazing today! He played defender and stuck with his mark like glue... and he never got tired. His team ended up WINNING 3-2. The two goals scored by the other team were when Chris was out.

Cheryl's next BOB game is Wednesday night. Her AYSO team has a buy next weekend. Chris's next game is Sunday, 1:30 at World Cup.

Truth or Dare!

Here is my layout for the newest challenge over at SD4U. Everyone had to pick two numbers correspond to two lists. The first was a list of techniques, and I got paper piecing (perfect for me!). The second was a topic. My topic is "My Worse Habit."

I asked my family what my worse habit is, and they said it was my obsession with the Internet... so, here it is, a paper pieced layout about the Internet :o)

Journaling reads:
The Internet was introduced in 1990, I started using it at work in 1996 and at home (via modem) around a year later. From then it has grown from a curiosity, to a valuable tool, to a necessity, and now it's become as obsession. I have to check email, update facebook, interact with message boards, and hop my favorite blogs DAILY... multiple-times a day. It's become my diversion while Jim is watching TV or playing video games. Now I'm hooked... I'm addicted to the Internet!

Scrap-lings

I learned about Scrap-lings from my friend Mara's blog.

See the Hero Arts blog for a full explaination about Scrap-lings.

Typically they are only 1.25" wide. I made mine wider 2-7/8" x 5-1/2" (that's a sheet of 8.5x11" cut in 3 strips). I don't know if it was the tall skinny size or my new toys, but these were so much FUN to make!

I used my new cupcake stamp set and my new border punch:





Then I made some matching envelopes... large enough to mail (3.5"x5.75")



And packaged them up in a pretty box for a nice gift:

Who's that baby?... answer...

It's Jacob!

Starbucks Chocolate

My favorite relaxation is a cup of coffee with: a chocolate brownie, chocolate chip cookie, chocolate chip granola bar, or fudge. YUM! Coffee and Chocolate... could it get any better?

YEP! Chocolate from Starbucks!!! The Mocha Dark Chocolate is soooo gooood... Dark chocolate with bits of coffee beans... just heaven!

I WON!!!

I was one of the winners for the Biggest Scrap Loser! It was a 5 week long contest. We were given a list elements to use on a layout every week and then everyone voted on their favorite layouts. The people with the most points after the 5 weeks are the winners.

I am going to be a Guest Design Team member for April! SD4U has the best kits! I'm excited to see the beautiful paper and fun new stuff that I'll be showcasing!

Floppy Treasure!

I was sitting at the computer yesterday, looking at our mess... then I noticed all the floppies... floppies that have been sitting by the computer forever! Our family desktop and laptop don't even have floppy drives. So I fired up the old computer today and read in all the floppies and burned everything to CD... one CD! LOL!

Anyway, I found a treasure trove of old photos. Here are a few of my favorites:

Randy

and

Cat...

Do you

know

which

of your

kids

this is?

What is a lichen?

This question was put out to Cheryl's college biology class. Cheryl's thought was, "It's a werewolf!" Uh Huh, LOL!... what's even funnier is that one of the kids answered, "It's a WEREWOLF!" Hahaha! Actually, a werewolf is called a "lycanthrope." But, you can tell which kids are the ones that read Twilight and Harry Potter!

Happy Valentine's Day

Here is what I woke up to this morning:

... and a card made by my kids, along with a Starbucks card! My daughter always says that the best gifts are the ones that she gets something out of too... I guess I'll be taking the kids to Starbucks this week, LOL!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Biggest Scrap Loser Week #5

I have exciting news! The orange layout that I did last week of Cheryl tied for first place! The competition is so tough! I never expected to win!

It's week #5, the last week of the Biggest Scrap Loser Challenge over at Scrapbook Deals 4U! This week we had to use all of the following items on a layout:

1. rub-ons
2. 2 different fonts for the title
3. 3 patterned papers (from 3 different mfrs)
4. bling
5. number stickers
6. chipboard
7. 3 ribbons
8. brads
9. distressing

I've been doing layouts of Cheryl... they have the best chance of winning since she's so pretty, IMHO {grin}... But, this week I did a layout of Chris!
The words on the journal spot came from the family. Cheryl and I each picked a word to describe Chris, and then I had Chris pick a word to describe himself.

More from Surf City...

Here are a couple of the professional photos from Surf City. Here's Chris... does he look like he just finished running 13.1 miles? He got in so early that there was only a short line for the photo booth. He went all over getting his photo taken. By the time I got in, I couldn't even see the photo booth! LOL!

I'm still pleased with my finishing time. I was writing it down in my running journal today, along with the other stats. I noticed that I came in 1627 in overall women at Surf City. Can you guess what place
I came in at the Disneyland Half-Marathon? That's right! 1627 overall women!!!! HAHAHAHA! It must be my lucky number!

Here's another photo of Chris that I wanted to post for my friend Mary. I know she'll get a kick out of the palm trees and green grass.

Chris runs in a regular cotten T-shirt. He doesn't go in for the high-tech running shirts. They just aren't cool...

This is a photo that my mom took at mile 5... LOOK AT ALL THE PEOPLE! That's all. I promise no more Surf City photos...

Medieval Times

Come all ye princes and princesses to Medieval Times, celebrating Randy and Cat's birthdays in royal fashion...

That was fun! The last time we were at Medieval Times was 9 years ago in Las Vegas. This time we were in the Blue Knight cheering section.

The Blue Knight (in the lower left of the photo) lost his competition to the Red Knight. Cheryl wanted the Yellow Knight to win (upper left) because according to Cheryl, he was the cutest... but he was a whimp... he was the first knight defeated, LOL!

Happy Birthday, Randy and Cat!

OC Half-Marathon

Yeah, I said Surf City was going to be my last half-marathon. But, Chris is so into it! He really really wants to run another one, and if he's going to run it, I might as well too.

I almost signed us up for the Avenue of the Giants Half-Marathon (in Northern California), Jim said it was okay and that we'd make it a mini-vacation. But with all the kids sports, it's not a good time to take a mini-vacation.

I'm actually looking forward to the OC Half-Marathon. It starts in Fashion Island and ends at the Orange County Fair Grounds. The route goes through Corona Del Mar and Newport Back Bay. It should be a very pretty run, and our first one way race (a welcome relief after the monotony of Surf City, LOL!).

The race is on May 3, so plenty of time to train for this one... maybe I can break 2 hours! Hahaha... wishful thinking...

Biggest Loser Week #4

It's week #4 of the Biggest Scrap Loser Challenge over at Scrapbook Deals 4U! This week we had to use This week, use 7 of the following 8 items on a layout:

1. rub-ons
2. flowers
3. 3 patterned papers
4. bling
5. thicker letters
6. brown ink
7. stardust pen
8. buttons
BONUS FEATURE: 5x7 photo with hand journaling

I used everything!

I noticed that a lot of us used photos of little girls this week (must be because of the flowers, hehehe!)... Here's my little girl!
The words on the journal spot came from the family. My son and I each picked a word to describe my daughter, and then I had my daughter pick a word to describe herself. I have three words for my son too... that will be for a layout to come.

Candy Holders

Here are some fun candy holders that I've been working on for Valentine's day.

This one holds 4 peppermint patties. Directions found here.

This one is my favorite! It holds 6 peppermint patties. Direction found here.

Run Surf City!

It was unbelievably crowded! The starting line was CRAZY!!! The finish line was even CRAZIER!!! Nevertheless, we had a great time, and did really well! My last half-marathon was 2:16. I wanted to finish under 2:10. I came in at 2:06... a new PR for me! Chris's last half-marathon time was 1:50. We estimated Chris to finish at 1:45. He finished at 1:40... a new PR for him! Hooray for us!

Here's the starting line... You can see how crowded it was! There wasn't even room to move! My friend Mara came down from the Santa Barbara area to run the race, but we couldn't meet up. We were never in the same place at the same time. It was impossible to find each other!

You can see how cold Cheryl is... it was damp and foggy at the start of the race.
Here are a couple of photos that Cheryl took of our finishing:

Chris's comments about the race: "That's a LOOOOONG street!" LOL! He's referring to Pacific Coast Highway. We ran from Huntington Beach to Seal Beach. I was amazed at how many clothes were being discarded. I knew it would warm up, so I wore a tanktop and shorts. But I guess other runners were getting too hot, taking their clothes off and throwing them off on the side of the road. I passed gloves, hats, long sleeve shirts, and jackets! Lots of them!

When asked if he had fun, Chris said, "Yes! When's the next half-marathon!" I think he's HOOKED!

We're resting up today, and taking stock of injuries... I came away with only a small blister on my toe and a shirt rash on my inner arm. Chris has a bloody heel, and at last count 4 blisters.