Jumping on Beds..........

Happy Friday!

Hi there....

I was hanging with Indy today and she was a sleepy girl! 

My weekend has officially begun because the kids are home from school!

I have one kiddo upstairs in bed....no fever but stomach and headache and completely exhausted!!! 

2 other kiddos are outside playing with Indy because it is the most gorgeous day here!!! 

I hit Target today and found this cute little chalkboard carrier and thought it was the perfect spot for my Project Life stuff! 

Next, I need to organize my scraproom and just purge away! 

The kids managed to come up with 10 toys to give away and it was a pathetic attempt I might add. Charlie tried giving me a handful of 10 Legos as his....I said I was thinking a little bigger than that! 

So, next week, it will be 10 more things.

I have yet to do my 10 things though so shame on me! 

Someone in the kids class has lice, the note came home yesterday and I immediately started itching like mad and started having stress flashbacks of last year! I remember it was this time of year when one of the kids got it.  I hope the lice fairy passes over our house this year in search of a more exciting home! 

I started on a new project and the kids are excited about it too! It started out as my own project, like a little journal for myself and now is a family project.

I got the idea from here and posted about it before. I was originally going to make it for Mannie and I thought, nah....I am keeping it for myself!  So I got myself a cute little journal and a road atlas and I have been cutting out states ever since.

Charlie loves geography/travel as much as I do so he has been really into it....we are going to glue all the states we have been as a family (starting with when it was just Mannie and I) into the journal.  We are doing it in chronological order (as best I can with my memory).

I will post when I get a grip on the project.  It is just in the beginning stages.  

That is all.  My mind has been all a buzz with "projects" and it can be a little overwhelming since I am the queen of 1/2 finished projects...case and point.....my bedroom.  

This was sort of funny( but maybe "you had to be there")....Mannie and I were sitting in my bedroom the other day and I was complaining about how our room has been in a state of "redecorating" for at least 4 years now.  I was telling him how I am stumped because of the color brown and how much I don't like the color brown to begin with.  He said, "Well,you seem to have been on a brown kick!" and I said, "What? No, I haven't, I hate brown!"  He bursts out laughing and says, "Oh my gosh, I WISH there was a video camera on you right now!! Look at yourself!" At which point, I look down and see I am wearing not one but 2 brown shirts!!! We both laughed hysterically! That was just so me right there....duh! 

In other news.....a conversation to remember:

Cara: "Mom, you are the best mom!"

Me: "Well, I don't know about best but I will say, I sure try my hardest to be the best I can be!"

Cara: "That's what makes you the BEST mom!"

Sweet or what?  LOVE my 3 kids. 

Tonight's plans....movie night....Treasure Buds! Anyone? Anyone? ;)  Mannie is tortured by the Buddy movies.  He is gonna be SO psyched!!! ;)

 

Have an AWESOME weekend!

 

Odds and Ends

Happy President's Day!

We enjoyed a nice, quiet President's Day! No President related activities except maybe spending some "dead Presidents" ;)

We have some news....Cara returned her bird, Cookie, and got a new FRIENDLY and adorable bird that she named, Michael. He is an English Budgie.  So he looks like the other parakeets except bigger. He is a sweetie and I am hoping that he is the answer to Cara's prayers for a "faithful friend".

Cami also got a cute little parakeet since her little "Sky" passed away.  She named him, "Cloudy".

So, we are back to having 5 parakeets again and all is well in the Adams' household!

Other weekend news:

The girls had a cheer performance and it was AWESOME!! Of course, I am the mom, so of course I will say that! It was so fun to see them all excited and dressed up in their uniforms!! I was a cheerleader as a kid so it brought back memories!! 

We had a great time.  Mannie's sister, her hubby and kids were in town so they came as well as Gia, Gramps and the Motta's! We went out to eat after and it was FUN! 

We also tried a new (for us) restaurant on Friday.  It was AWESOME! But if you have never been, you don't want to go on a full stomach!

Here's what we ate....buffalo wings (spicy!!!) and fries....the kids got sliders and mac and cheese which they LOVED!! 

I had a salad too and then the BIG burger!!! Here is a pic!

Mannie had a pancake, fried egg, fried chicken and bacon platter!!

On Sunday, we had a family picnic at the park with the family.  We got to meet our new doggy nephew and Indy got to meet her doggy cousin!  Lio is the cutest!! Very well behaved too! We celebrated birthdays with a pinata,  lunch,  cupcakes and naturally.....a long walk.  We ended up at the kids play area with 2 very tired dogs and kids who were having a blast with their cousins!! 

Could Lio be any cuter??

One more of just Indy!

She is such a beauty!

Today, the kids were busy, busy doing there own thing.   I sat down to make a list in an effort to get my thoughts clear and try to tackle things I have been wanting to/ needing to do for a while.

I wrote down the chore type ones.  Then I got to thinking about my "Wish" for 2012.  Every year our family says our wishes for the new year at our annual beach bonfire at Christmas.  My wish was for travel!

Well, we have been to 2 new states already so I am on my way.  But the more I think of it, I may have a small, tiny change of heart.

When 2012 is over, what do I really want to say I accomplished?  Lots of travel? Well, okay, that is my passion so maybe. But mostly, I just want to get my life organized.

I have a friend whose home looks like a Pottery Barn catalog.  I am not saying I am jealous...I am in awe! How do you stay so clutter free? I walk in my house and see backpacks and sweatshirts on the floor, then of course, it is an obstacle course to get into my kitchen in our effort to keep Indy from pooping on our hallway/dinning room carpeting.  It is automatic "eye stress".  Then there is the upstairs.....the place I never want visitors to go see but they always manage to find their way up there!  And the grand finale is my dreary, uninspiring bedroom with hoaderesk closets both "him" and "her".

I started the redo our bedroom decor in Jan. and then completely came to a halt with all the Giants excitement. Now Cami's softball is starting up and then baseball so I foresee any available home improvement weekends vanishing into thin air. 

I may have to just do it alone if my room is ever to make a change.  I started a list of all the organizational projects that I want to accomplish before the year is done.  Let's see how it goes.

I feel like just when we start to get organized, a new phase of life begins and then just like that I am back to the starting line.  Whether it be the kids growing and moving up a clothing size (thus needing to clean out drawers) or one of the kids deciding that they no longer adore dinosaurs leaving me with 10,000 dinosaur toys...it is a constant struggle to find places to store things so that I don't feel like the walls are closing in on me. 

The solution is easy......stop buying new things.  Proff of this concept is Charlie's room.  He loves Legos but that means Lego creations all over his room.  The answer to this problem is to just stop buying sets. However, hat leaves nothing when birthdays and holidays arrive but my goal is to figure out the perfect solution for all involved!! 

Goals for this week:

Keep it simple....

1.have kids pick 10 stuffed animals to donate. 

2. Think about Lego issue.

3.Pick out just 10 things from MY  closet to give away. I need to do more but I am just going to start small because small works for me.

4. Non related to organizational goal but a "to do" for the week....CRAFTING with a purpose! More on that later!

That is all for now, hope you had a great day!!!!

 

Project Life...Superbowl Part 2!

Happy Sunday!!

We had a wonderful weekend and the good news is that we have an extra day so today doesn't feel like the usual Sunday!! We are going to have Family Movie Night!!! 

Not sure what we will watch though....will see what is offered in U Verse on Demand! I am sure there will be quite a few that we haven't seen yet.

Here is the rest of the Project Life from our trip! 

Tomorrow I am going to see if I can get some done about our awesome weekend!! The girls had their cheer show for the Globetrotters! Then I will be caught up again! 

So.....where was I ? I think here...

Superbowl Sunday....

 

.not sure if you can tell, but the tickets are in a smaller size page protector...looks all cluttered with the layers.

Under the tickets is the envelope they came in....I thought that would be a cool page!

The flip side of that...

 

All my favorite pictures right here on the next 2 pages....

Some paraphenalia...(sp?)...

A LO about a cute park we went to in Chicago....

from the Superbowl back to Chicago...

Will write about our weekend another time! Hope you had a fun one!!

Project Life...Superbowl Edition! :)

Happy Friday!!

We have been busy today on this gorgeous day off from school!! We had a couple of playdates and then some errands/shopping to do.  We are back home for a bit but want to take Indy to the dog park since she has been alone today! The kids are outside playing with her right now and I can hear Cami screaming.  She is going through this annoying, dramatic scream phase when playing.  Can't wait for that to pass! 

Anyway, here is the PL from our trip to Indy and Chicago.....this is a biggy....maybe I will break up into 2 posts!

close up of my favorite pocket! :)

A LO I made using some photobooth pics....

A couple of Superbowl ones....here is a cute picture a little kid from Indiana made and left in our hotel room! How sweet! They left a little goody bag as well. So thoughtful!  My kids were so touched that another kid did that for them!! I, saw it and immediately thought, "Project Life album!!"

I think that is it for today....will continue later....time to go to the doggy park!! 

Happy Friday! 

Project Life Valentine's Day

Hi there!

Hope you are having a nice day!

It is gorgeous here in Cali.  Yesterday it rained which was cool too!

I had an awesome breakfast with Laura today! Was so nice to catch up!! We hit the local scrapbooking store after and I got some goodies which I put to use with some PL stuff.

I am caught up to date except for the UCLA alumni baseball game we went to back in Jan.  still need to print and put them in the album but everything else is up to date.  Will try to post our trip to Chicago/Indy one of these days but wanted to post our Valentine's day since it just happened. I am enjoying PL because I haven't committed to doing it, just doing it when I feel like it. 

Lately, I have been having fun scrapping because the kids are into it and so we hang out and scrap.  I even bought Cara an album and seeing how happy and proud she is of her pages reminds me of when I started scrapping.  I guess her enthusiasm is rubbing off on me.  

I think the Scrapbook Oasis closed :( and that makes me sad.  We had so many good memories there. I will miss it.  Figures I get back into it when it closes.

Here is my V Day via Project Life:

I like the way she stamps the date several times(see little card above with date Feb. 12?) so I am doing that.  I like the look of it and I also rarely get a complete stamp with all the numbers showing on the first try.

Included cards from the kids.  Funny enough, Mannie and I didn't make or buy any cards this year for each other or the kids......and Cara didn't make us one either (at school)....odd and random. Charlie noticed that we didn't give him a card....I felt bad.  Especially seeing how much work he put into our card.  But VDay crept up on me this year...I didn't put too much thought into it ahead of time and threw it together at the last second.

I made a LO!!! I had fun using one of those spray inks onto a doilie(sp?) leaving the impression of a doilie.

up close: It was fun trying to be a little more creative!

Cami brought this home from school and it made me SO HAPPY!! Love her illustrations!!

Look at these cute birds!!! 

Last page waiting for more pics from this week....which I only have a couple to add.  I am actually wanting to make more LO's rather than worry about adding to this page:

That is all!! 

Feeling extra happy this week and wondering if it is because I am back to scrapping?  Creating is such a part of me, so feels good! 

Hope you are having a great week!! No school for us tomorrow!! I am thrilled that today is our Friday!! Thanks Abe and George!!

 

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Hope you are having a WONDERFUL day filled with lots of GOODIES!!! 

Happy Valentine's Day friends!!

Love, 

ME! :) 

Making Stuff....

Having a restful weekend here!!

My kind of weekend!

I am hanging out with my cuties in my scraproom today.  Cara is scrapping and she wanted to borrow some of my Project Life journaling cards.  I said of course! So she picks up one and reads, "Live out loud".....she says, "What the heck does that mean?"...."It's laugh out loud!".....I was cracking up.  She put it back.  So, now I keep saying, "We're living out loud over here!"....she just makes a face and ignores me. 

Anyway, I started to print out pictures and naturally ran out of ink so my work is on hold until I go to Staples.  But the kids are so cute, working away on their various projects.  Cami is making a Pretty Bird LO.  Charlie is making a Lego Dinosaur picture and Cara is making a Tucker LO.  It makes me so happy to watch them deciding on what to use for their pages and see them working away, enjoying themselves. 

Check this out! I want to make that for Mannie and I! Perfect.

Other stuff:

Still conquering laundry.

I worked on Friday, subbing....it was fun! The hours fit perfectly with my kids schedule so that will be awesome! 

In other news....I watched Moneyball and LOVED it!!! I love Brad Pitt and I loved the baseball theme too. I am looking forward to baseball season which is right around the corner. 

Sad news about Whitney Houston last night. 

Today our plans include cleaning, giving Indy a bath and watching the Superbowl together!!! We are going to have a Superbowl party! Will be fun to watch it without the stress of the unknown outcome!  I guess a quick run to Staples and the grocery store for Superbowl munchies is on tap as well.

That is all.

Hope you are having a fun weekend!  I am.

And it is a short week over here.....no school on FRIDAY!!! Hip Hip hooray! 

 

Chicago and Indy

Hi there!

We got back from our midwest trip last night.....wow, what a trip. Mannie and I ended up battling some major bug Monday and yesterday which made for a tough trip home! But we made it and today I feel a little better but poor Mannie had to get up early and go to work.  I feel bad for him!

We lucked out on the weather in Chicago and Indy.  Although, yesterday was absolutely freezing in Chicago and that along with feeling sick left me dreaming of home and my bed! 

Highlights of our trip......

Eating.....we ate at Spiaggia (one of the Obama's spots for date nights!)

It had a lemon flavored popcorn appetizer that I liked and a great salad:

, Lou Malnati's was a good italian restaurant, Giordanno's was good as well..
, Eatt (my favorite spot of all) had delicious pretzel buns!!! I got a great chicken sandwich, Capi's had good pizza too and we also tried chocolate covered popcorn at Garrett's! OH and JJ's sandwiches in Indy....LOVED that place too! Look at the great sign in it....LOVED IT!
One bummer is that we never got to Dunkin Donuts which are my favorite donuts in the world!!! Mannie was happy about that! ;)  And overall, NY still WINS in the pizza department!!

Checking into our hotel.....one of my favorite parts of traveling is the moment after you check in and see your room for the first time. Then everyone settles in and this is when I am at complete peace!

Flying......my least favorite part of traveling.  But Jet Blue always goes above and beyond to make it as enjoyable as possible! 

Seeing.....so much to see and do.
We checked out Millenium Park and the famous sculpture, snow on the ground was a favorite for the kids....
We went to Navy Pier and hit the Children's Museum......then the Shedd Aquarium.....We drove over to the Obama's house and got chased away by the Secret Service....We saw Soldier Field and Wrigley....and went on a little scavengar hunt for Wizard of Oz characters at Oz Park...
and my celeb sightings included seeing one of my favorite crushes, Steve Young
and Sherri, the Pres. of Harpo Studios!!!!!! (That was cool to see her at the airport!  If you have watched any of the Oprah behing the scenes you know who I am talking about). 

Superbowl....we stayed an hour outside of Indy and drove into the city on Saturday night and Sunday for the whole day.  Can I just tell you how INSANE Indy was on Saturday night!!??? Oh my gosh, it was so crowded, I couldn't believe it.  I think the Altanta Olympics were similiar but I was 26 and single at the time so my feelings on crowds were different! 

We hit the NFL Experience on Saturday night which was awesome because it was indoors (it was raining on Sat. night in Indy) and it was warm and lots of things for the kids to do!  Cara made a field goal!! 

Sunday was the big day and this picture says it all to me.....

I could have used the ticket for myself being a loyal Giant fan my whole life, why wouldn't I? Well, I wanted my kids to experience the thrill of the Superbowl and Charlie won the coin toss.  Cara was very bummed but he won fair and square so I was happy for him.  I want my kids to understand a part of me and my love for the Giants...it is a family thing and being that we are so removed from NY, it was special that they get a little understanding of who I am and things that are dear to me.  So much of me will never be revealed to them in the way they know Mannie being that we live in California and are constantly surrounded by all of his hometown things.  Not sure if that makes sense but it does to me.  Seeing this picture of Charlie let me know that my decision was perfect!! He gets it! Also, lots of my family were at the game and although I did not get to see them, Charlie and Mannie did which was cool.  I did get to see my sister, Katie and her hubby, Mike, briefly before the game so that was nice.  

The girls and I watched the game from the Hyatt which was right in the heart of the Superbowl Village.
 They had a dj in the lobby blasting all this great music....it seemed like the perfect party atmosphere....everyone all hyped up for the game......Then, with an hour or so to go until the game, the dj packs up and leaves.  The atmosphere totally changed and the girls and I ended up watching the Superbowl with all these guys who sell counterfeit merchandise on the streets! LOL.....I couldn't believe it! They were really nice guys but they didn't appear to be rooting for anyone at all, just sort of waiting for the game to be over so they could get to work. They cleared out during the 3rd or middle of the fourth, can't remember exactly...It was amusing and a bummer that I wasn't somewhere with a ton of FANS.  Then after the game about 7 blocks over as we were leaving, I saw one my buddies from the hotel tucked under an awning of a building selling....I said, "Hey, my buddy from the hotel!!"  He smiled and said hey back!! 

We left Indy on Monday and made our way to Chicago....which was freezing for the last 2 days of our stay! I just can't imagine raising a family in that cold weather...I know, I grew up in NY but oh my gosh, just keeping track of the gloves, hats and mittens was a nightmare....Cami, Charlie and I each lost a glove at one time or another and Cami actually left her winter coat (of all things) back in the hotel on Superbowl Sunday and we didn't realize it until we drove an hour there and parked.  Luckily it was a warm day so I let her use my coat and I was fine without one. 

Can you believe I never dragged my family to Harpo studios??? No, I spared them that trip! But we did go to Wrigley....I like this picture I got. I can't wait to go back to Chicago in the warm weather when all the trees are in bloom.....must be AMAZING!!!

I liked this picture too..

Overall, an awesome trip! So happy we made it! 

I guess that is all for now....time to start printing and adding to my PL! Hope you are having a fun day! 1/2 way to the end of the week!! ;)

Life in the Fast Lane....

I think I should change the name of my blog!

1. I can't jump on a bed anymore.

2. Jumping on beds is a way of saying, just go for it....have fun, jump on your bed, live a little....well, I suppose that IS what I am doing but it also means to me....take  time to enjoy the little things in life.

These days, there are no lazy days to stop and smell the roses and jump on beds.

But it is all good stuff keeping us busy....it is just a different life than when I started this blog.

We decided on Sunday to go to the Superbowl.  We weighed the pros and cons all  week since the Giants won.....con is mostly that we are wanting to save our money to get new flooring so that we don't have to hurdle gates with laundry baskets and whatnot.

But, the lure of the superbowl got us in the end....and the philosophy of "you only live once"....and so, we leave on Thursday.  I have been a busy girl running around getting cold weather things together for us all because all of us are going. I also started laying things out by our suitcases.

All of us will check out the sites of Chicago first then Indianapolis...but only 2 of us will go to the game!!!! 

The lucky 2?

Mannie and Charlie.  Charlie won the coin toss. 

So, the girls and I will figure something out for ourselves when we get to INDY.

I am excited but my usual fear of flying is keeping me from any real excitement.  I am terrified.  I keep praying to be brave, peaceful and of course for safe flights but my imagination never lets me rest. 

It is the curse of my anxiety. It is  one of my challenges in life.

The job? Joann, I got your message and sorry, haven't had time to call back.  

I got your email and loved all the suggestions. and as far as the job goes.....

It felt a little confusing....I thought I would be starting this week  and then I got an email saying I am on their sub list which technically is what I originally interviewed for. But it still left me confused none the less. And the bummer is I got called today to sub for the week and of course I can't because we are leaving on Thursday.  

Well, I am not overly concerned with the whole situation because I know things happen for a reason and what is meant to be will all be rolled out before me over the course of time.

Now if I could just apply that reasoning to flying, then I could be at peace. 

Other news in the fast lane..

Charlie has started TKD and is loving it. We have been to 3 classes in the past 7 days.

The girls are busy getting ready for the Globetrotter game.  Cara is still busy with her horse 4H club.

We were up in LA on Saturday for the UCLA alumni baseball game.  That was a fun day as always.

Hair cut tomorrow for me.

We missed a birthday party on Sunday due to my horrible number/date memory brain that I have.....completely had the wrong time in my head.  I felt so bad.  

Well.....that is all for now. Time to go check on the kids and make sure they are getting ready for bed as requested.

Hope you are having a fun week.  Please think good thoughts for a safe flight for us if you have a moment. 

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The picture? a pretty church near UCLA.  I always love to see it and decided to stop and take a picture when we drove by it on Saturday. 

 

 

 

Sappy Scrappy

Hi there....

I suppose I have Valentine's on the brain today....celebrating LOVE! :)

Just sharing a little mini page I made for fun!!

I am throwing this into my Project Life album.

I am feeling sappy for hubby today and feel like I haven't  made a Mannie layout in forever which is probably true since I don't really scrap anymore!!

I had fun making it! Nice to get out the ole stash!

Have a great day!!

Here is one more......mini LO's just might be the answer to using my stash and getting some LO's in my PL album!!! Wow, I am actually scrapbooking!!! Quick, easy and fun!! 

Have a good one!