Hot Trends in Scrapbooking

my friend Leah Fung went to Japan recently and gave a seminar about the hottest trends in scrapping.

Here are a few of the slides from her power point presentation
http://leahfung.typepad.com/photos/trends_seminar/index.html

just click on the http:....

and then when you get to the window with all the thumbnails, just click on the first one and then there will be an option to see next, previous...

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to my favorite parents

I have to admit, still deciding on a gift ...hmmm, maybe I will offer to babysit so they can go out for dinner and a movie with out their kids...

oh yeah, their kids are old (38 & 41) and dont live at home. Oh, I hope that doesnt make my parents feel old - their youngest (me) is 38.

My youngest is 7 and I feel old.

maybe I will take my kids over to make them feel young again :) !!

love- your daughter

**ps- working all day and I wanted to post early their anniversary is the 22nd

Life in San Diego

...is like this

and like this...
and some days look like this too.

Went to the beach again. The girls had a great time and of course didn't want to leave. I think that days like this and the expression of their faces, sums up being a kid in the summer.

Personally, I have a lot of work, errands and chores to do. I don't like the sticky feel of the salt water when it dries on your skin, I don't like the sand everywhere and all the sand in the car, and in every seam and crevice of the cooler, my clothes, my cell phone. I don't like the clean up of the tub and hosing down wet suits and boogie boards. I don't like the packing and unpacking....but then I think back to when I was a kid, and my dad would take me and my brother to the beach. I remember driving - feeling like it was so far away, peeking my head out the window when we got near the beach (since we didn't have air conditioning in the car back then) and the smell of the sea air. I would be so excited when I could see the beach. I just couldn't wait for my dad to park the car! We would dig and make a "pool", play in the surf, feed the sea gulls and collect shells. I remember the warm sun on a beach towel with fruit slices on it. I don't remember the sand all over the car, the packing, the clean up, the work and chores my dad had waiting for him.

So much has changed from when I was a kid, cell phones, DVDs, a DVD player in the car, cable TV, remotes...the toys my kids have don't always resemble my childhood. But when we go to the beach, it is timeless. Its the same things we did. yeah, now they have buckets that look like a sand castle mold, but the fun is the same. Jumping over the waves, sand in your sandwiches, looking for shells...it hasn't changed.

This trip to the beach we brought 3 tubes so I could go tubing with them. I was actually quite cold, wet and with the cool beach air, so I needed to dry off. The girls (as always) made a few friends and shared the tubes with them. Davi asked if next time we go can we bring 4 tubes so they will have 2 tubes to share.

We interrupt our regular programing

I am going to interrupt the Tennessee posts for a moment.
We went to the beach yesterday. Spent the entire day there actually.
So relaxing, with the warm sun, the sound of the ocean and the breeze.
The girls played and played in the water, built a sand castle fort with 2 other children they met, and had a blast "tubing".
Typically we bring boogie boards, but this time I thought it would be fun to take inner tubes. It was a hit!! Davi said "Its just like the wave pool at Mandalay Bay Hotel - with the waves, the inner tubes and sand"...um I suppose so, but I think its- the Mandalay Bay Beach is like this beach.
My kids were in their element. The sunshine, no humidity, playing in the Pacific Ocean, eating snacks and reapplying the sunscreen.
after the beach we showered at the cafe and they wanted to play on the playground. I was so ready to go at 6:00, but I figured they are on their last few days of summer ...so OK. They played on the playground and swung on the big huge swings and made more friends.



They got hungry and wanted to go eat at the bowling alley - so we left the playground and went to the bowling alley to eat.
Davi and Hallie said it was their "best summer day EVER!"
I needed that. Those words made it all worthwhile and reminded me why we live here.

Tenn. continued

The girls went to a camp while in Tennessee- Camp Clarkson-It was like something out of the movies, the cabins, counselors, the lake, trees, swimming...oh mosquitoes and ticks :) whee!!
The girls had a great time swimming, arts and crafts, pranks on the counselors, singing, catching frogs (and releasing) and making friends. They each came home with several phone numbers.
my poor city kids were in for quite a shock, no air conditioning, no sidewalks or TVs...
they were introduced to the cabin "this is Davi and Hallie, they are sisters from San Diego, California" there was an audible "ooooh" and the girls were curious to why the girls came all this way for a camp? I told them it was close to cousins and family :) - we didn't come just for the camp.


We went to Bell Buckle (that is the name of the town) - totally cute, quaint, and like a trip back in time. we went to the bell buckle cafe for lunch. I almost licked my plate clean. I had the "vegetarian plate" hah ahahahahaha. as a California resident I was expecting some tofu and sprouts...ummm. no.
my choice from the list : I chose fried okra, blueberry salad, spinach and strawberry salad, sweet potato pie, and it came with a corn cake.
fried okra: deep fried
blueberry salad: it was sooooo good, but like a pie, sauce, tons of sugar, whipped cream...
strawberry and spinach salad: fresh spinach (off to a good healthy start) and topped with like fresh strawberry pie filling. again, sooo incredibly sinfully good, but not quite what I had pictured in my mind.
sweet potato pie: knew it was not the best as far as nutrition, but who can go to Tn, and not eat some sweet potato pie???
the corn cake was like this pancake with butter all over it- YUM!!!
its ok, I ordered a diet coke with it.


I was outside talking to my BIL Kelly, while he was grilling, it was getting dark and I was startled at the flash of light I saw in the trees! "Kelly!- I just saw a flash out in your trees!"
WITH OUT laughing or making me feel like a moron...he says "oh the lightning bugs?"
AHHHH- my city slicker mind caught up....
yes, I haven't ever actually seen a fire fly in real life. only on TV and they make them look like they are a green glowing light and they stay lit. I didn't know they flash on and off. Kelly got Hallie and I a net and container to catch them. OK, they are hard to catch- um in the dark you cant see them!! you only see them when they light up, and then you have to guess at where you are swinging! we caught 2 and I was uber proud of our little San Diego selves to catch two with a 3" net :). we brought them inside and watched for them to light up in their container. waited. nothing. I told Hallie we should let them go since they weren't going to light up and Kara my niece says dryly, "you have to put them in the dark for them to light up". AHHHHHH- west coasties are catching on. whole new world.

Tennessee Part 3

Well, the most of the trip was spent with family. Since we live so far away, its really important for Davi and Hallie to connect and bond with their dad's side of the family. Davi really wants to go to Florida next summer and see/meet my side of the family. They have never met most of my family. My Grandpa turned 88 just a few days ago.

Cousins
We went to dinner for Sherry's birthday

Julie the mommy to be

Aunt sherry- the girls just love her- she is great with kids.
Kelly the golfer

Tenessee Trip part 2

Opryland Hotel was pretty darn amazing, like something from a Vegas genre.
You were outside, but inside and it was all very confusing most of the time as far as if you were inside or out...we were inside, but there were huge plants and trees, and a glass roof- it all became like brain pain when thinking about time travel :)
We took the river boat ride, very fun and there is a way cool story about getting water for the river in the hotel. People mailed it in from all over the world in bottles.
For lunch we went to Rain forest Cafe at Opry Mills Mall - very cool, the girls loved eating there. Every time we had a rainstorm, Kara was in the bathroom.
We went shopping a bit and I finally found some black sandal/flip flops!! on sale- like 14.99.
The girls rode the carousel - of course after lunch! and rode in the tea cup- the whole carousel is going around, and then they are spinning. even this photo makes me dizzy!
We went to the Grand Ol Opry and the museum was really neat there. they had an area where you could stand and they have the lights and a painted audience.
Got a great shot of Kara and Sherry- they are both quite photogenic.

Tennessee Part 1

Well, here are just a few images from Tn. I literally took hundreds.

Davi drove out with Joey and Julie after Tombstone, but Hallie wasn't feeling well the day before they left so we didn't let her go on the road trip. She cried so hard, she was heart broken. I have no idea why she was sick, but I knew in her eyes - the next day, she was fine to go. one of those mom things- you can look at your child, and you just know how they are. You get that when they are babies, when they cant say when they feel good or bad, happy or sad. You learn to read them. She was sooo upset that morning by the fact she may not be going she was crying and upset all morning. But when it comes to a long car ride, with hardly any stops- better be on the side of caution. Davi whispered to me that she didn't want to go if Hallie couldn't go, which broke my heart even more.

Davi lost a tooth while she was there. Sherry took davi to have her hair done, way cute hair cut for davi :) love it!! Davi and Kara got a chance to connect and play.

So Hallie and I flew out to Tn. a few weeks later. we had a mostly uneventful trip, which is the way I like it while traveling with kids.

We flew into Nashville and we went to the Hard Rock Cafe and walked a bit of downtown Nashville. Very very humid there- wow. oh and bugs, lots of bugs. Nashville is a pretty city, I really liked all the brick buildings. Part of it looked exactly like downtown San Diego.

So if there was a fountain, my kids were in it. throwing coins, putting their feet in, asking to swim in it...gosh - you would think they had never seen a pool before.

We went to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Paid extra for the radio tour, which after about 10 minutes, my two made me carry them. Mental note to self- only buy the basic ticket.

We had lunch at the cafe there- that was a bit of a bust too, amazing gourmet food, in huge amounts, and the kids ate nothing. Kara, my niece starts out with "I'm not really hungry" and my kids weren't starving, so sherry and I were happy to eat at the snack stand with bagels, muffins...etc. Kara didn't like many of the options at the snack stand and....somehow we ended up at the cafe. the food was like out of this world good, my Ceasar salad had drizzled molasses and caramelized pecans and...it ended up being too gourmet for the kids and they picked at the food :( - so sad, one of the best meals I had while in Tn. they had sweet potato fries and these chicken strips that had an amazing breading on them!

Took a photo of the "sweet tea" they serve in TN. we don't have that here, if you order iced tea, its always unsweetened. Love the way when you order tea the server will ask "sweet tea?" it sounds like "Sweetie?" :)
Loved the country music hall of fame, but the girls seemed a bit bored. I related to more of the musicians than the girls did. They were mostly wondering where Hanna Montana's dad was.

Every Girl

Latest layout- wanted it to look like a fairy tale, very whimsical.

Used some of the new self adhesive trim by Queen & Co, and added some hambly rub ons, Queen & Co jewels, buttons , sequins, charms and chip board letters (fontastics and alpha dots). the polka dot paper is Fancy pants that I cut and layerd on a sheet by Frances Meyer.

the layout says "Every Girl deserves to be a princess fairy for a day- Summers past farms, Parade of Fairies, 2007"

I thought the fontastics would look great glittered, so I painted them and added glitter. thanks for looking :)