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.

Scrapping the Music

This week's song is Home by Marc Broussard.
This layout is a long time in the planning... It's a 4 season layout of our home. Yep, I've been taking photos for a year! We live in Southern CA, so the change is not drastic, but it's there...

Biggest Scrap Loser!

It's another week of the Biggest Scrap Loser Challenge over at Scrapbook Deals 4U! This week we had to use This week, use 6 of the following 8 items on a layout:

• Paper scraps, cardstock AND patterned
• A sticker (NOT an alphabet)
• Embossing (dry or heat)
• A stamp (acrylic or rubber)
• Chalk, paint or colored pencils
• A punch
• At least 3 buttons
• Ribbon
BONUS FEATURE: Stitch somewhere on the layout...Hand, machine, or faux.

I used everything except for the stamps!

Happy Birthday Jim!

Today is Jim's 57th birthday!!!

He started his day surfing with his friends at Trestles. When he got home we had "Birthday Breakfast Burritos" (Chris said that's an alliteration, Uncle Randy, hahaha!).

After that we played Jim's new Wii game, Game Party. I'm so bad at video games... We had a GREAT lunch at my mom and dad's house. My mom always makes so much food. She's such a great cook, and we eat enough for lunch and dinner! We left early today, because Chris needs to study for finals. Finals week is so stressful!


Chris made this cool birthday card in less than 5 minutes. He's the pop-up master!

Scrapping the Music - Colors

This is new for me... it's an all digital layout for the challenge over at Scrapping the Music. The song this week is Colors by Kira Willey. I used the inference "I'm a rainbow today" and created a layout of us each showing off our colors. :oD

The Biggest Loser!

I'm participating in a fun challenge over at Scrapbooks Deals 4 U called The Biggest (Scrap) Loser. The idea is to use supplies from our scrapping stash each week to create a layout... hence trimming/losing our excess scrapping supplies.

This is my week #1 entry. The challenge was to create a 1-page layout and use at least 4 of the following items: brads, buttons, ribbon, ink, number stickers, stickles, or 5 pieces of patterned paper. You also had to use at least 3 photos. And here is my entry! I used 5 pieces of patterned paper, brads, ink, and buttons!!


This is my week #2 entry. The challenge was to create a 1-page layout and use at least 5 of the following items: eyelets, transparencies, fiber, paint, flowers, striped paper, or 3 pieces of cardstock. You also had to doodle on your layout. And here is my entry! I used everything except for the fiber!!

MLK Day

It's MLK Day! No school... and we are just hanging around... Hanging around on Jim's bus! The kids spent Sunday night at our house. We got up early on Monday to drive to Huntington Beach to catch the bus. We waited less than 5 mintues and Jim showed up.

We took a nice ride into Long Beach. In Long Beach, the kids all got to sit in the driver's seat, scan tickets, open/close the doors, and talk on the PA.


Jim also showed them what the bus computer can do. We also saw the bus behind us lower its ramp to load a wheelchair... fun stuff, if you've never seen it before, LOL!
Then it was back to Huntington Beach... We almost missed our stop! It's a good thing that the kids remembered to ring the bell... then we headed home.

What a nice day for a bus ride!

Cheryl's Graduation Layout

Here's half of Cheryl's Graduation layout.
I used the sketch from Scrapbook Deals 4U. As I was trying to decide how to do the circle, I found the song challenge at Scrapping the Music. It mentioned a "clock upon the wall"... And I connected that to "Time Flies"... so the circle is a clock face.

This is only the first page of a double page layout. The title will be on the other page.

CVHS Track

I'm so proud of Chris. He had to be one of the first seven sophmore's across the finish line in the one mile to make the track team. The one mile is not his strongest race. It was very very close, but he made it! He's a member of the Capo Long Distance Track Team. Go Chris! Go Cougars!

Winter in So. CA

This post is for all my friends back east. I was cleaning up the yard today and cut a few flowers to bring indoors. Spring is just around the corner!!!

Sandy Owen

I sat next to this guy at work for almost 2 years. I wasn't aware that he was famous until some people came up to us at lunch one day and asked for his autograph! He hasn't composed much in recent years... until now. Sandy was on TV last month and this month. His interview is being replayed on Tuesday, January 13, KLCS (for us it's channel 38) at 11pm. The show is called "Between the Lines."

Cheryl and I watched it earlier this month. He was AMAZING!!! Sandy is promoting his new album and a new piano playing technique. Did I mention it is AMAZING? Cheryl and I were fascinated by his playing.

Ran and Cat, if your kids are serious about getting into piano, you need to record this show for them. Jim heard us talking about it and we'll be recording it for him tomorrow night.

Run, Run, Run...

Run, run as fast as you can.
You can't catch me!
I'm the musubi man! LOL!

This morning, I did my first long run in over two weeks... 10 miles at Dana Point Harbor. I'm already sore, but it's a muscle sore... not that pesky iliopsoas. Three more weeks until the race. I don't know if it's possible to train for a half-marathon in three weeks, but I'm going to do my best (without getting hurt again).

Custom Made Keds

I saw this and had to share... I love it!!!

If you have an exceptionally hard-to-buy for family member, try these on for size. Custom sneakers! Upload your photos or digital designs to http://www.zazzle.com/kedsstudio, for a gift that couldn’t be more personal.

Happy Birthday - Round 2!

January 6th is Cheryl's actual birthday day. So, she gets into Disneyland for free! How could we resist?!!!

It was just us girls today... Jim had to work, and Chris went to school. It's been years since I've been to Disneyland. There were new rides that I've never been on and old rides which have been updated. I was anxious to check them all out.

The first thing we did was take a picture of where we parked. We have a bad track record locating our car in a parking structure.

This is me... can you see that button I'm wearing? It says, "Happy Birthday, Cheryl." Cheryl was too cool to wear it. I decided to wear it and see if we got any freebies because it was Cheryl's birthday. We didn't... what was I thinking? This is Disneyland! Nothing is free! But, a lot of people wished me a happy birthday, LOL!

It was actually kind of crowded... 45 minute wait for the major attractions. There were a lot of college students there (who are still on Christmas break), Australians (who are on summer break), and moms with preschoolers. We had a bit of excitement when Splash Mountain broke down while we were riding it. We had to climb out of our log and follow the attendant, through the singing animals, to the secret door, down the scaffolding and out into the back lot. It actually was fun! I ran through the backlot during the half-marathon, but this was Cheryl's first time through there. They had lots of Christmas decorations back there that were waiting to be put away, along with Winnie the Pooh, who was taking a honey break.

Look at this... isn't he sweet to remember to wish his sister a Happy Birthday?

Well, we must buy Chris and Jim something for letting us come to Disneyland without them. The best place for a sweet treat is the candy shop on Main Street!

Happy Birthday, Cheryl!

New Europe Layout

Here's my layout created for the Sketch Challenge at Scrapbook Deals 4U.

It gave me FITS!
See the square journal box on the left that's tilted?
It looks better that way, but it goes totally against my grain, LOL!

The reason why I like sketch challenges so much is because they stretch my creativity. I had solid paper circles on my page, but I thought they looked too heavy. So, I printed out some pretty circles on transparency film and used those instead.

Patterned Paper and puffy stickers from the SEI Dill collection (sent to me by my friend Mary). Journaling tags from Fancy Pants.