More Family Fun

After writing about our visit with Brian's sister and her family, it occurred to me that I started--but never finished--a blog post about spending time with my family on Saturday, June 8.

When my sister, Katie and her fiancee, Preston, flew out from Texas and my niece, McKayla, flew up from Southern California, we all gathered at our house in the foothills. 

I took a handful of photos, but not nearly as many as I usually do.  That afternoon, I was busy watching Noah, chatting, eating, glowing (sounds nicer than sweating...smile), and making sure everyone was staying hydrated.  (It was nearly 110 degrees that day!)   

Here are a few photos from that day:

 McKayla playing cornhole with Preston, Brian and my dad.

 Katie, mom and me.

 

Noah (17 months) and McKayla (11 years) joined us.  Thanks to Preston for snapping the two photos above.

My mom took this photo of McKayla and me.  I love when a family member or friend asks me, "Would you like me to take a picture of you with _________?"  I usually say, "Yes, please," and enthusiastically hand over my camera.  

Because my blog serves as a journal for me, I want to include a few more details about the day here:

WHO WAS THERE |  Katie, Preston, McKayla, Mom, Dad, Susie, Grandpa, Noah, Brian and me.  We missed seeing Nichole and Zoey.

WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT | The heat!  Katie and Preston's upcoming wedding.  What words Noah is saying now.  Susie's recent trip to Mexico.  Our camping trip.  How refreshingly cool it felt being inside.  The dips--clam dip and hot artichoke dip.   

WHAT WE ATE | Steak, sweet potatoes, salad, and Hawaiian sweet rolls.  Lemon bundt cake and Reese's peanut butter Rice Krispie treats for dessert.  A big thanks to Brian who barbequed the delicious steak and made the excellent sweet potatoes--and to my mom for bringing an appetizer, a salad, and a dessert.

WHAT WE DID/PLAYED | Played ladder ball and cornhole.  Splashed in the kiddie pool.  Laughed.  Hung out in the hammock.  Stood near the misters.

WHAT WE MADE | When I write "we," I mean McKayla.  She crafted a gorgeous "summer" greeting card, complete with sand paper.  

THE TABLESCAPE | I finally bought two nice white tablecloths at Target.  I also splurged on new placemats (circles in various blue shades), added a few candles, and my mom and dad brought us a vase with three gorgeous hydrangea flowers from their front yard.  Simple and lovely--just the way I like it.

 What fun activities have you and your family been partaking in this summer?  

Turning 11 Layout

I'm on a scrapbooking kick lately...and loving it!

I created this layout for Scrapbook Circle's June sketch challenge.

All product, except for the staples and the brown pen, were from Scrapbook Circle kits. 

The journaling reads: McKayla celebrated turning 11 with an Irish flag cake--a nod to her favorite band, One Direction.  After singing, she smashed her face in the cake.  Hahaha!  Silly, McKayla!  We feasted on cupcakes with yummy Cool Whip frosting.  Happy golden birthday to a great niece!

Flashback Friday

McKayla & Noah | July 2012

Last summer, our 10-year-old niece McKayla came to visit for the day. 

She and Noah (who was 6 months old at the time) had such fun together!

Here, the two of them are enjoying being together in the play yard, listening to Pandora's Toddler radio station on my iPhone. 

Oh, how I love those smiles!

McKayla will be in town again next week, and we can't wait to spend time with her!

December Daily: Days 18-26

Woohoo!

I just finished my 2012 December Daily album.

Before I share the remaining pages of my album, here's a look at the title page: 


This photo, taken at Picture People last week, works perfectly as the first page in my album.  I just pulled the photo into Photoshop Elements, added a few words, and printed it at Costco.  (Yes, we had our holiday photos taken AFTER Christmas!  Initially, I was just going to get Noah's first birthday photos taken, but then thought, Why not do holiday photos, too?)

And now, here are days 18-26:

December 18: I made grasshopper mint chocolate bark for the first time, and it was SO easy and SO delicious!  Here's the recipe, in case you're interested in whipping up a batch. 

December 19: We're lucky to have a persimmon tree in our front yard, which produces fruit every December.  This year, Brian picked 20 persimmons off the tree!

December 20: The three of us drove to Nevada City for the day.  There, we browsed some shops, bought three Christmas books for Noah, and feasted on a slice of pizza and a calzone at Pete's Pizza.  Noah ate a bit of the pizza AND some of the calzone, too!

December 21: Our cousin, Christa, treated us to lunch at her place.  It's always fun spending time with her, and her enchiladas were awesome.  Even Noah thought so!  

December 22: We celebrated Christmas today with my dad's side of the family.  Noah loved playing with all of his cousins!

December 23: I actually took this picture on another day, but wanted to include it in my album.  Although they are rare--especially during the holiday season--low-key days, where we stay in our pajamas, play with toys, read books, and listen to Christmas music, are so much fun.   

December 24:We celebrated with Brian's family on Christmas Eve, exchanging gifts, eating, chatting, and just enjoying being together.    

December 25: After 8:00 am mass, we drove down to my parents' house where we opened presents and ate brunch before my dad left for work.


I just love this picture of McKayla in her Santa hat.  Can't believe she's in the fifth grade!  

Unfortunately, Katie and Preston couldn't be with us this Christmas.  We wanted to let them know we were thinking of them, though, so we snapped the picture above and sent it to them via text message.

Later on that day, we opened gifts with Brian's family and then headed home for dinner and more present opening!  Noah loved ripping open his gifts--once he got the hang of it.  And now, he loves ripping paper of any kind.  

December 26: Although I started brainstorming ideas for Noah's birthday party early on in December, I kicked my planning into high gear the day after Christmas.  I found so many cool ideas for the party on --where else?-- Pinterest.  There, I created a "secret" board, where I pinned my finds.  I'm planning to write a separate blog post on Noah's party soon.

I'm really happy with this super simple album.  I love that it's small.  I love that it contains lots of photos and some journaling.  I love that it documents our December days as well as Noah's first Christmas.

Here's hoping you had a magical December, and that your new year is off to a wonderful start!

 

December Daily, Days 10-17

Hello there!

I'm back to share eight more days from my December Daily album.  (If you missed Days 1-9, click here.)  

December 10: Rather than share a picture today, I decided to do a bit of journaling using the "loving" prompt.  I stamped l-o-v-i-n-g using a Studio g alphabet stamp set and Stampin' Up! ink.   

December 11: Noah still loves to ride in his swing, so when it's not raining, we bundle him up in a sweatshirt and/or jacket and head outside.  

December 12: I placed the overlay on top of my photo in Photoshop Elements and had it printed at Costco.  But as you can see, I must have done something wrong because the overlay and journaling are cut off on the sides.  After Christmas, I plan to fix it and reprint it.        

Journaling reads: Peek-a-boo is one of Noah's favorite games right now!  He loves to crawl underneath the tree stand, hiding until we say, "Where's Noah?"  Then, he peeks out, smiling and giggling.  I respond enthusiastically, "There you are!"  and he disappears again.


December 13:  You might notice that Noah has the same pajamas on as he did in the previous photo.  That's because I took both photos on December 12!  I couldn't decide which one I liked better, so I included both--one for the 12th and one for the 13th.    

Journaling reads: Noah loves pushing this toy cart around the family room, dining room, and kitchen.  He's also fond of moving dining chairs, his high chair--and even a side table--around, too.  It's so much fun watching him cruise around, gaining more and more confidence with each passing day.

December 14:  On this day (and in subsequent days), my thoughts and prayers were with the people of Newtown, Connecticut.  This quote from Mr. Rogers is a perfect one to acknowledge the tragedy, while reminding us to look for the good, for those who are helping others.  A big thanks to Cathy Zielske for offering this free printable on her blog. 

December 15: I mailed our Christmas cards today!  Thanks to CardsEtcetera for the card design, and Vistaprint for printing all 70 cards, front and back.

December 16: I sat down at my computer and typed for five minutes, writing whatever came to mind as I thought about Christmas.  With the words I generated, I created this word cloud using Wordle.  It was fun to change the font and color of the text, as well as the shape of the "cloud."  If you want to create your own word cloud, click here.  Keep in mind: If you want a word to appear larger than the others, be sure to include it multiple times in your text.   

December 17: Noah had a fun day hanging out with his cousins, McKayla and Zoey! 

I'll be back after Christmas with Days 18-25. 

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Turning Ten

At the end of March, our niece, McKayla, came to visit.

We always look forward to seeing McKayla, but this time was particularly special because McKayla got to meet her 3-month-old cousin, Noah, for the first time.  

It was also a memorable visit because McKayla stayed with us for two full days.

Before McKayla arrived, Brian and I had discussed what we wanted to do while she was here.  At the top of my list: Taking McKayla to Coloma since she's currently in fourth grade.  (A field trip, if you will!)  I also wanted to bake cupcakes and present her with 10 wrapped gifts in honor of her forthcoming 10th birthday.

These planned events were super fun, but just as exciting were the more spontaneous activities.  Like when Brian came up with the last-minute idea to present McKayla with clues for a birthday gift scavenger hunt.  I think McKayla loved the "hunt" more than the actual gifts. 

This is what I want to remember from our time together.  

I want to remember baking and frosting cupcakes with McKayla.  (For the record, McKayla did nearly all the work; I just helped with the oven.)

I want to remember how McKayla and I talked about teachers.  McKayla said she wasn't fond of strict teachers.  To which I replied, Well then, I don't think you would have liked me as your teacher.  She laughed and I did, too. 

I want to remember McKayla creating homemade cards--one for Noah and one for a friend--as she listened to her favorite singer, Bruno Mars, on Pandora.  (I'm not going to lie: The cardmaker in me was so excited to see McKayla's budding interest in cardmaking, and my long-neglected cardmaking supplies were shouting, Hooray, hooray!)

I want to remember how excited McKayla was when she learned how to use my Xyron machine.  

I want to remember how McKayla and Brian made a delicious taco pizza for dinner. 

 

I want to remember McKayla panning for gold in Coloma.

 

I want to remember how initially McKayla didn't seem too interested in learning about the discovery of gold in California.  (It may have been that the museum was a tad bit boring.)  But once we visited James Marshall's log cabin, from there on out, she stopped and read every. single. sign. 

I want to remember that when McKayla learned that the Coloma school children during the Gold Rush era never had any homework, she said, "What?  That's not fair.  Why do I have homework and they didn't?"  

I want to remember how much McKayla enjoyed searching for her 10 birthday presents in and around our house.

I want to remember how McKayla enthusiastically read each clue, ran (not walked) to the appropriate destination, quickly searched for her gift and then made a pile of presents in the family room. 

The clue that sent her to the washing machine said, If you had dirty clothes, where would you go to wash them?  

The clue that led McKayla to the car said, Six years from now, you’ll be able to drive one of these…as long as you pass your driving test!

I want to remember how McKayla opened all of her gifts at the end of the scavenger hunt and then made a wish and blew out the candles on her birthday cupcake. 

We hope to make more happy memories with McKayla in the future!

J

P.S.  In case you are curious, here is what I selected for McKayla's ten gifts:
1) 10 pictures of Noah (in a small album)
2) 5 pairs of socks
3) $10 gift card to iTunes
4) 10 $1 bills
5) 10 stickers
6) 10 pieces of bubble gum (I totally forgot she has braces, so we swapped out the gum for candy.)
7) 5 pairs of earrings
8) 10 Peeps candies
9) 10 plastic bracelets
10) 10 mechanical pencils

This Week

Hi all!

I've been VERY busy lately with school starting back up, but I want to share with you a few photos and stories from this past week.


Sunday: Brian and I headed out to do some berry pickin' just down the road. Afterward, we thought about making a blackberry cobbler, but since I devoured all of the berries in just three days, there was nothing left for a baked dessert.


Monday: My sister-in-law, Lori, her husband, and two girls came to visit. In the afternoon, Brian, Hailey, and Courtney built two bird feeders.


Here's Courtney with her bird feeder, sans the top.


After dinner on the deck, we celebrated Lori's 32nd birthday with strawberry bundt cake.


Tuesday: While organizing my supply cabinet, I came across this extra box of crayons that I purchased at Walmart a few weeks ago.


I smiled when I read this side of the box.


I laughed when I read this side. Wonder who wrote it?


Wednesday morning: I pulled off the freeway and into the Sizzler parking lot to snap this picture with my iPhone. It was my 7-minute field trip of the day. Although I abhor getting up so early, I love witnessing gorgeous sunrises like this one.


Wednesday afternoon: Lucy alerted me to these deer--three does and two fawns--grazing on grass in our backyard. The adorable fawns still had white spots covering their fur.


Thursday: In the morning, while driving on a country road near our house, I caught sight of a handmade, neon green "Happy Birthday" sign stapled to a power pole. I thought, "Oh, how sweet!" and kept singing along to a Chris Young tune. But as I drove further down the road, I saw a second sign that read:, "To You." Then, a third sign appeared that read: "Happy Birthday." In all, there were nine signs leading up to our local 4th-8th grade school, each one containing a phrase from the Happy Birthday song. The last one read: Love, followed by three names. How creative (and awesome) is that! I hope Reagan had a wonderful birthday!


Friday: I bought two new pairs of jeans at Gap recently because they were (perhaps, still are?) having a great sale--40% off any jeans--and I decided to don one of the pairs today. Oh, and these ballet flats were on sale, too. Regularly $39.95, I scored them for just $25.

Saturday morning: Last week, my students completed one of my favorite homework assignments where they ask me questions. Here are my five favorite questions:

1. One day, can I be line leader?
2. How did you get so skinny? :-)
3. Do you live in a firehouse?
4. Do you like chocolate?
5. Would you eat lunch with us?

Kids crack me up!


Saturday afternoon: Brian and I hung out with McKayla and my family for a few hours. McKayla successfully completed several division problems (you go, girl!), drew a few pictures creating animals and flowers from capital letters, and performed a cheer for us.

All in all, it was a really great week!

J