SS Blog Challenge #10 Photo Scavenger Hunt

This one is from Stacy.
This week, get out your cameras and open your eyes!Share with us a photo for each of the following categories, and tell us about the photo, and/or the story behind it.
1. a sign of spring
2. an image of joy
3. a bad habit
4. a good word
5. a reflection of you
Get as creative or as simple as you want. Be philisophical, or be silly. The only rule is to open your eyes, and have fun!

Well, I have had some computer issues this week and it has set me back a bit on my blogging. I am borrowing a computer even now, because I don't want to get behind on these challenges!

A sign of spring - I mentioned that I felt like spring was finally here because it was sunny and bright outside, but a friend who lives in the Northwest noticed the temperature here and made a point to tell me that 85 degrees is summer, not spring. LOL So, I have two pictures. One for me and one for Amy. My youngest daughter and I came across these beautiful flowers on our walk near our house. It was so sunny out that she could not look directly at the camera! For Amy - a picture of the same daughter, but this time, ready for a dip in the pool!

An image of joy - This picture is the perfect example of joy. One of my babies - right by my scrapbooking stuff. LOL He is so quick these days. I've got to stay on top of him every second. In this picture he was trying to pull out some of my scrap stuff and I caught him. He gives you the best smiles though. You can not get angry at all. Everyone mentions that he really seems to be a "happy baby". He is and I am a happy momma. I've got great kids!

A bad habit - Where do I start? There are so many! Since Easter just passed, I will share one of my worst habits of this time of year. The Sweet Tart Jelly Bean. So sweet, yet so tart. You didn't see that one coming did you? Even if you are not a big fan of the jelly bean. You MUST try these. Love them. They are not sold year round. You have to wait for Easter. Guess what though? I am not eating any these days. I have a whole jar left and I am not touching it. No sugar or carbs for me. Not for now anyway...we'll see how long I hold out. Ha.

A good word - Here are some great words. Peace and Grace. This box is from a set of Philosophy perfume that my hubby bought for me. Love Philosophy brand anything....anyway, I was about to throw the box out and I noticed the words on it. I ended up keeping the box to store some of my Cuttlebug dies. I have PEACE knowing that God loves me and has a purpose for me and my family. He has shown me GRACE. It is undeserved forgiveness.
When I think of having Inner Grace, I think of having a peace within yourself. Knowing who you are and what you believe. It took me a while to get to the place where I could say that I finally understand it. I live to worship my Lord, take care of my family, enrich and edify those around me and leave a positive mark in this world. It is a long journey, but I'm confident that I am headed in the right direction!

A reflection of you - Well, I am going to take this one literally. I thought of taking a picture of my shadow or something cool like that, but I ended up deciding that I would just share this picture of me. I am standing in one of my favorite spots - my scrap space.

Well, there it is. A little jumbled because I don't feel quite at home not being on my own computer, but it is what it is.

SS Blog Challenge #9 - Choose JOY!

From Melissa in Waco -

This week, my challenge to you is to blog one thing, each day, that has brought a smile to your face. Could be something as simple as the first bloom of spring, a silly comment from a child, or a blessing you've received. As I read through the prayer requests on ScrapShare, many of us are facing what seem to be insurmountable odds. I've had a hard time recently focusing on the joys in my life and have been letting our problems bring me down. I'm not suggesting we ignore issues; rather, let's find a piece of joy in each day.

Sunday: Sunday is church day. No questions asked. I got up and got ready to face the battle of waking my girls after they chose to stay up way too late the night before. I am not even out of my room, when I hear something in the hall. I look up and it's my oldest. She is showered, dressed, and ready to go. She was getting clothes ready for the two youngest. Wow. Some days, she blows me away. She just wanted to be a help that day!

Monday: Well, today is St. Patrick's Day and I decided to go out and get something for the kids. You can read about that a couple entries down. They loved it and it made my heart smile to see them so happy.

Tuesday: I had a homeschool meeting today. I usually have the hardest time getting everything ready for these meetings and then getting there on time. Today - I was ready and I was early! LOL We met at Panera bakery and all I ordered was a green tea. =] It was tempting being around all that yummy goodness, but I refrained...oh, wait. Maybe I bought a small, very small chocolate chip cookie. I can't remember really....... =D

Wednesday: We have a chime that plays everytime the front door is opened. Today, we discovered that the baby says "DaDa" everytime he hears it. He's used to the girls yelling for dad when he gets home from work. So sweet. He even starts crawling to the door!

Thursday: I had been looking forward to this day all week! Desiree (Menjiness from SS) was coming over to play. I made some of my homemade chicken taquitos, got the extra scrapbook table out and waited for my friend. It was great. We mostly talked and caught up with each other, of course we ate, and then finally we even scrapped. I need more of that kind of time!

Friday: I got to scrap a few more pages. The kids were especially good. It's Good Friday. God is good!

Saturday: Finished up last minute shopping and made Easter goodies for the kids in my Jr. Church and did baskets for the nursery kids, and baskets for my HS girls class. I was exhausted, but enjoyed doing them. The hilight of the day was coloring eggs with my kids. It was Marco's first time and all he wanted to do was eat the eggs! Naomi knew what was going on for the first time. She couldn't get them painted fast enough. Uncle Jaime even stopped by to give them an Easter treat. We all went to sleep knowing that we would be celebrating the Lord's Resurrection. We would wake up and all sit on the couch. Marco would read from the Bible and then we would pray and then the children would hunt for their baskets. Good times, good times.

Ugh!

The weather has been beautiful. Spring is definitely in the air - heck, it's practically summer some days, because it gets up to 85 degrees! The kids are on Spring Break - so why do I feel so crummy?? Because I have not completely shaken whatever bug I had a while back, that's why! Ugh! It's driving me nuts. The cough that will not go away has turned into the cough that sounds like a dog is barking. The stuffy nose is now a stuffy head and let's not even talk about what my throat feels like.
Well, that's okay. I will just take some medicine, drink some hot tea, and get back under the covers so that I can rest and recuperate.... NOT. The thought of it actually made me chuckle out loud! My family is pretty good about doing their part and helping out, but I can not just leave the 4 kids to fend for themselves. Did I mention that it's Spring Break?
*sigh* No rest for the weary and all that I guess. Thanks for letting me vent here...

I've been tagged...7 Random Things About Me...

I was tagged by Trish - so here goes.
7 Random things about me.
1. I love all the colors that remind me of autumn. Browns, reds, yellows, oranges...you get the picture.
2. I love to read. I am always reading a book. When I want something "lighter", I will read a magazine, the cereal box, grafitti in the bathroom stall...just love reading.
3. When given the choice, I choose salty over sweet.
4. I am an Army brat and have had the privilege of growing up all over the world.
5. I can cook just about anything, but do not enjoy baking.
6. I am married to my best friend.
7. I ran a Jr. (Half) Marathon in my younger, more fit days. =]
Okay, so I am supposed to tag 2 other people. I tag Lee and Esther. You're it. Get busy girls!

St. Patty's Day Treat for the best kids in the world!

Okay, that's what I am calling them today...but you know how that goes. LOL! I went out early this morning to pick up some coffee creamer (gotta have my French Vanilla!) and I also wanted to take some scenic pics of my daily drive. Well, the batteries were dead. =[ Apparently, even re-chargeable batteries have a limit. I just charged them and maybe took two pictures at the most and now dead. *sigh*

Oh, well. Back to the treat. I remembered the really cool bagel shop nearby that always has specialty bagels during the holidays. Sure enough, they had them. They were as green as could be. I bought 5. One for each of us - except little Marco. He was not happy about that. I picked up some cream cheese and added food coloring. Voila! Green cream cheese. The children were very thrilled with this unexpected treat. Oh and I treated myself to a Shamrock Shimmy Latte. Yum. It's going to be a good day!

March 12 on 12 Challenge

I have decided to join in on a 12 on 12 challenge. The idea is to take 12 pictures of your day on the 12th of every month. This is my first month in the challenge and I didn't really get what I would call "exciting" photos, but I guess that not every day is exactly exciting. LOL So, here is what I got.


This is our new place. It is actually the first picture of the house that I've taken. This was before anyone else was up - well, except for hubby. He was already at work.

This is our pool. It is the hi-lite of our house (for the girls anyway). I love the backyard because of the benches that we placed back by the trees. It is a very peaceful place to hang out early in the morning or late at night. Gotta love the warm California climate.

Guess which one of my kids was the first to wake up? He's usually my first companion in the morning. I love the time we have to play before the hectic day gets started.

I usually have two cups of coffee. One when I first wake up, and one when Taryn gets up. She likes to make my coffee. However, she does not like that I am taking her picture this morning. LOL "Aww, mom........", says she.

Okay, technically - this is the first kid awake in this house! This is Oso. My Jack Russell - Chihuahua mix. He's hiper, but we love him!

Naomi did not want to put on socks or slippers today. Why? Because she said that her toes were pretty - that's why! We don't wear shoes in the house normally, but most of the house is wood and tile so I like them to wear socks or slippers in the morning. Not this girl! Nope!


Here's Marco. Busy at his job already. Those letter blocks that you see - I have a love/hate relationship with them. They are the magnetic Leap Frog ABC thing. Naomi learned her ABC's with them and is even starting to recognize some of them - but there are so many! Upper and lower case and he loves to drag them all around. *sigh*

The school day has started at about 8:45. Hannah is doing her writing.

Here's Taryn doing her spelling.

...and of course Naomi loves to get working. She calls this "my project". She is very busy as you can see.

I got busy all day and forgot to take any other pictures. We also had church tonight and I wanted to take my camera for our kids club that we have. Oh, well. Like I said, I am new at this. LOL

This is Hannah after her shower giving Marco his last bottle.

Here is the last picture of the day. I just realized that I didn't get one picture of Big Marco this time. Oh well. Wednesdays are very busy for him. This is the time I actually got ready to go to bed today. This is a miracle, but I was exhausted. They don't call me Midnite Scrapper for nothing you know!

Hopefully, I will get these pictures on a layout soon. =]

SS Blog Challenge #8 - Best and Worst

This challenge will catch me up. Phew! I do not want to get behind on the challenges. Anyway, this is from Joanie. I really like this idea and think that I will try to apply this at least once a week to our family time.



When we are lucky enough to gather around the table and have everyone home for our evening meal, there are always two questions we ask everyone seated at the table....What was your favorite part of your day today?andWhat was your least favorite part of your day today?Even Joel participates in this tradition. Most days the answers are somewhat predictable but there are days when my sweet children surprise me with wonderful insights into our world.So pick a day this week and sit down and just blog those two questions.



My favorite part of the day today - honestly - was getting our internet hooked up! I was starting to get the shakes. LOL I did not think it would be that big of a deal, but it was. I had to catch up on some of my favorite blogs, websites, emails, etc. My girls had work that needed to be printed from different sites for school. Not only is it my connection to the "outer world", it's my stress relief.

My not so favorite part of the day was, hands down, dealing with a fussy 7 month old while trying to explain square roots to my eight year old. Crying baby to the left of me, confused 8 year old to the right....here I am stuck in the middle again... Sorry, couldn't help going into song.

Okay...I had to come back to edit and add that the day is not over and now I have a new favorite thing of the day. We just had our family devotions (every Tuesday night) and my husband had each of us find a favorite verse and share it with everyone and explain what it means to us. Then he asked us to pick a favorite song to sing together. It was so much fun to sing together (the six of us). Even Naomi and baby Marco got in on the fun with their clapping and their own rendition of the songs. Yes, that was the best part of this day. *sigh*

SS Blog Challenge #7 - Embarrassing Moments

I am playing catch up since I was without internet for one very long week! This challenge was handed out by my dear friend Tiffany!

BLOG CHALLENGE # 7 - Embarrassing Moments

If you only have one most embarrassing story then you are lucky! I have about ten really good ones that still make me red in the face when I recount them. But one thing I have found is that most embarrassing stories usually result in someone reporting back to you that they have had a similar experience or know someone who has. We all do dumb things, have stupid stuff happen to us in public, experience an escape of gas at the most inopportune moment or find ourselves in a predicament we just didn't expect. Ever.

The challenge this week is to write about one of those moments. Trust me.....it will be cathartic! I would suggest....and it is merely just a suggestion....that you keep the subject lighthearted. This is your choice but I'm not encouraging anyone to dredge up some long-held secret that you swore you would never reveal. It's a chance to laugh at yourself and commisserate with others about the times when things just don't go right.

Blog on!!

Well, I definitely have no problems embarrassing myself, but I guess I need to choose a story that is not going to embarrass me AGAIN, just by re-telling it. So let me think...

Okay...here goes. About 14 years ago, my husband and I attended a very large conference at a near by Spanish church. We had just gotten married and he was the Youth Pastor for his father's church. I had not yet learned to speak Spanish. I was determined though to do my best at learning as fast as I could. Even though most of the members spoke English, I had a desire to show them and my new family, that I wanted to speak their language. I spoke what little bit I knew whenever I had the chance. So, there we were at the conference. The place was packed. During one of the breaks between the teaching sessions, I decided that I would take a restroom break.

Did I mention that the place was packed? It was like trying to get through Main Street in Disneyland after a parade just finished. So as I made my way throught the crowd, I decided that the polite way to get through as fast as possible would be to say "Excuse me" and just hustle my way through. So there I went saying "Pedo, pedo" to everyone I passed. I smiled warmly, but had a determined look about me as I passed each person. I started to realize that these people were not returning my kind smile. As a matter of fact, they looked shocked, amused, and even insulted. Hmph! Well, excuse me. So I hadn't learned to roll my r's yet. I knew my accent was obvious, but at least I was trying.

When I got back to my seat, I must've looked a little upset. My husband asked what was wrong and I told him what had just happened. He had the same look on his face as the others and then it was replaced with a huge grin. He started to laugh (which didn't help how I felt). He asked if I was trying to say "Perdon". Uh, yeah, I guess. Whatever. I was not in the mood to chat. That is when he informed me that the word I was using meant FART. Oh.my.word. I was going through that crowd with my prettiest smile pasted on my face and saying, "fart, fart, (smile) fart..." No wonder. Even though I have learned to speak Spanish and understand it fluently now, I just say "excuse me" when I am trying to get through a crowd!

Moving....Ugh....*sigh*....Woo Hoo!....

Well, we are finally moved in. I am sooooo exhausted. We got everything moved on Saturday, had church services Sunday, unpacked a bunch yesterday, and now I am waiting on my daughter who is taking a state writing test at a nearby location. They have free Wi-Fi, so I thought I'd jump on real quick to check some things out.
No internet for two days. Talk about withdrawals. We do not have internet at the house yet. That is on the list of priorities!
Anyway, the house is great! The best thing is that it is so close to church! Just one Sunday and we've already felt the great benefit!
I will come back to tell you more about the house and post pictures. Off to unpack!