How Did I End Up Here?

Happy Day After Halloween!

Why am I always so happy when it's over? I am. Especially this year, since Jenna was freaked out about anything even remotely scary. She even decided on Friday night, at 3 a.m. no less, that she was NOT going trick or treating. Nightmares woke her up again, and she came in and gave me the news. Poor thing. Then I agonized all day yesterday whether I should make her go, or let it go. Bill and I talked and agreed that she should at least make her way around the court, knowing the neighbors would like to see her. We told her, and right away she agreed. I figured if she didn't go out of fear, that fear would just grow, and I didn't want that.

So here is a picture of she and daddy heading out. Note the fake smile? 

 

She went around the court, and headed home to pass out candy. Sat on the front porch passing it out for about 20 minutes, and decided she wanted to trick or treat some more. YIPPEE!!! She came back and Bill was grinning from ear to ear. He explained that there was a house decorated really scary, and Jenna stopped right in front of it. Bill explained to her she could skip the scary house. Apparently she looked up at him and said, "Dad, I HAVE to do this." Rock on, my girl. Way to face those fears. The first thing she said this morning though, was "Hurray, Halloween is over!" Like mother, like daughter I guess. I'm proud of her!

Here are some Halloween layouts for Fancy Pants Designs. They were on the blog this week.

 

 

Speaking of FP, have you seen their new releases? One is called Frosted and the other is Vintage Valentine. Cool, huh?

Here are some random things from the last two weeks.

• Last weekend I hosted the October birthday parties. My girl is 23!!!! How the heck did that happen?
• Pulled something in my neck last weekend. Laid around writhing in pain for three days. Good times, this getting older business.
• Went on another field trip with the MHS photography club. Man, are they talented!!!
• Taught Elements the last two Thursdays. FUN group of students. Love it when everything works out well! Decided I may teach Lightroom next. I'm ready for a new class, and developing the class will help me learn more about the program.
• Another busy week ahead. But good busy. Fun busy.
• Jenna had her last soccer game yesterday. She had such a great coach this season, and a great season. She is becoming quite the defensive player. But boy oh boy was it cold for her last game. I mean bitter cold. And Jenna got a ginormous chocolate bar which was the highlight of her season. LOL!

Peace out.

Weekends go too quickly.

Way too quickly. If only there was one more day in a weekend, I swear I would not complain. OK, maybe I would complain a little bit, but that's just my charming way.

Not a lot going on the last week, besides feeling a bit under the weather. Nothing obvious, not the flu or anything, but just feeling a bit yucky. It's probably due to the cold, dreary weather we have been experiencing. Took Jenna to the school play. It was called "Leaving Iowa," and was it sad. I love seeing school productions like this because the talent of our youth is amazing.

Today was typical weekend madness. Went to mom's for coffee, to the local camera store for an exposure workshop/photo walk, then ran home to get Jenna ready for a costume birthday party, missed her soccer game, and Bill and I went out to dinner. Then I cranked out one layout for good measure, as I did the laundry. No wonder I don't feel rested when I go back to school on Mondays!

Here is my girl in costume. She was trying for scary, but I know better!

In scrapping news I had a mini-album picked up by Scrapbook Trends for an idea book. I'm excited because I just don't have a lot of time to submit to magazines but happened upon this call and sent the images. Glad I did! I need to make more of an effort in the submitting department. But the same stack of layouts that I haven't had time to scan is still sitting by the computer, growing exponentially. Again with the extra day in the weekend . . . THEN I would have time.

Here is my favorite photo from last weekend's road trip in search of fall colors. Wish there would have been more red, but not so much. Maybe tomorrow I can shoot some more. I love fall. Hate the cold, but love everything else about it.

Have a great weekend!

 

It's been a long time, indeed.

Busy busy busy. That's my life at this point. Back in the swing of things at school, and trying to find balance in my life. It's better, for certain. My back is finally feeling better . . . you just take your health and well-being for granted. Bill was out of town for a few days last weekend into the week, and I was single mom for a few. That's a real eye opener.

At school I sponsor the photography club and on Thursday we went on our first field trip of the year. I had so much fun! And I am continually in awe of the talent of the members of the club. I know I will learn so much from them this year.

Em came home for the weekend, and Friday night we went to dinner and got to hang together. We talked school a lot, and I know from our conversations she is going to be a really good teacher. She did say she was tired a lot. Welcome to my world, sweetheart. Saturday we went shopping, to Jenna's soccer game, to lunch as a family, to a local bakery for caramel apples, then to a farm with baby animals. The favorite animals were the kittens. Here are some of the pics.

Then I went shooting last night with Alison for about an hour. Michigan is so beautiful in the fall, and I really wanted to capture some of the colors. Here are a few from last night.

Today we went on a road trip in search of color. We cut it short though because Bill's back was hurting. Will share those photos soon.

Not much new in the scrapping world for me . . . not enough hours in the day I guess. I feel I need to be outdoors now as much as possible since soon enough we will be trapped indoors from the cold. I have TEN layouts needing to be scanned and uploaded, but no time to get to them. Some day . . .

Have a fantastic week!

A very busy week indeed.

With open house at my school, soccer practice, Jenna's fall harvest dinner, and Bill's birthday during the week it was HECTIC. Plus, the death of a classmate sent me to the funeral home, and had me down all week. Rick was just too young to die. Way too young.

Then this weekend was equally busy with Em and Kevin coming home for a wedding, along with some of Em's old college roomies. Then a birthday party today for Bill and Kevin. BUSY. Did I mention the trip to Urgent Care? I have been in crazy pain since Friday night. Wrenched my back, and probably have swelling somewhere. Getting old is for the birds, I tell you. Hopefully the muscle relaxers will kick in soon.

Here are some pics of the kids over the weekend. And can I just say I LOVE the picture of Em and Kevin? Well, I guess I just did.

Some pictures to share!!!

These are some pictures from the 2009 Michigan Renaissance Festival. Good people, good fun.

The first full week, down.

I made it through a 5-day week with students. YIPPEE! Seems like an easy task, but truthfully I was a bit worried. I was a bit resistant to this school-year nonsense, but I think I am starting the task of acceptance. It may take me a while, though . . .

Let's see what's new. Went to the nature center one beautiful evening last week. Here is my favorite picture of Jenna from the evening. Sorry, honey. It was too good not to share.

Also in Jenna-related news, she got to play goalie in soccer yesterday. Here are some of her action pics from the game.

Here is some warm-up with daddy.

Nice save, my girl!

Yeah, I think this one got by you. No worries though, we won the game!

Went to the Balloon Fest both Friday night and Saturday. It was cold, but fun! Here is one from the afterglow.

And here is Jenna's version of an afterglow . . . 

The highlight of the last two nights was hanging with Mags . . .

And look who was brave enough to go up in a balloon!

It's been a great weekend so far, with more shooting today. Jenna woke up with a migraine (UGH) and is just staring to feel better. While she was down, Bill went out and took pics of the balloons flying over our house this a.m. and landing in a field by our house. Magic.

I leave you with a layout . . . this girl cracks me up.

Have a great Sunday!

Hey Friends!

All 29 of you . . . see the weird thing about the stats on my blog is that I get 29 hits on it almost daily. 29. What is up with that random number? But I digress. Or maybe not. Maybe I will go with the theme "random" for this post and talk about what's been goin' on.

• Went up north last weekend with my dear friend in high school and her family. We had so much fun together! Jenna loves the girls, and they are so good to her. Kristen and I used to go to the same place every summer as her parents had a cottage in the area, so we always get a laugh out of our younger selves. There was a big party at the sand bar where everyone hangs out, and they played songs from our youth. I believe people are calling it "Classic Rock" these days, which makes me feel ancient. Here are some pics of the trip.

• When we got home from our weekend trip, I went with my friend Alison to shoot an old, abandoned school. I haven't done any editing of those pics yet . . . I was dreading starting school the next day and I haven't edited any pics in weeks. But here is one I edited this a.m. Note the name of the school.  Alison has gotten so many amazing pics from this location, but I guess they are looking to sell the property so it was cleaned up. I still thought it was cool. Hopefully more pics to follow.

• Good classes, good kids. Love my job. But every year when I start my job again, I think of a comment from a coworker about 5 years ago. We were in a summer grad class, and the school year was approaching. I turned to her and whined, "Why is it that every time I think of the start of the year, I feel like my life will be over?" And she answered, "That's because it will." I was taken aback! And yet realized it was true. Because from now until the end of the year I am Mrs. Rogers, math teacher, with lesson plans and student names and a perpetual to-do list floating through my head. I will worry about my students on the weekends, cheer for them on the sidelines, and constantly think of better ways of teaching them the math that they need to know to move on, both to the next class, and to college. My job CONSUMES me. And I think that's the way with good teachers. But it comes with a price.
• Speaking of teaching, Em started her student teaching. How proud am I?!?!?!?!? Can't even put it into words. She has biology classes to start, and based on the questions she is asking, I know she will be a great teacher. She too is carrying her kids around with her, talking about them with me, asking the best way to help them learn. It matters, teaching.
• Speaking of Emily, my little college beat Emily's big bad college in football yesterday. Poor sissy. She should have been a Chippewa (OOH, AAH).
• Miss Jenna had her first day of second grade this week. How ready was she to go back to school? No words to describe how much. The girl needs something to keep her busy. And between school and soccer, that should be the case. We decided no dance, and I'm wondering if I will regret that. But after soccer I think we will do skating again. Here is a picture Bill took of us her first day.

• Had a layout chosen to appear on the "Got Sketch?" website. That was cool! I used sketches so much this summer. Somehow it got me scrapping again, and I needed that. I highly recommend sketches when your mojo takes a hike, as mine did. 
• And finally, a layout. It's Sassafras Lass Sweet Marmalade and is about my little 2nd grader.

 

• Have a great Sunday, all 29 of you faithful blog readers. I'm off to look for a hula hoop for Miss Jenna. It seems today she needs one. Who knew?

Can you hear it slipping away?

Summer, that is. And with the COLD weather here in the mitten state, the reality is hard to miss. Hard as I try, denial is not my friend right now. And usually I rock the denial, so I'm a bit disappointed in myself.

Big week last week, with Em and Kevin being around, going to a Loons game, a trip to IKEA,  scrapping with Jami and Elaine, and moving Em into her new apartment. Keeping busy makes the time go that much faster, to be certain. 

A few layouts to share . . . both based on PageMaps sketches and pics from our trip to Columbus.

 

Here are some pics from the Loons game. Just me and my gals. Do we look freezing? Because we were. Seriously so.

 

And Jenna with Kevin. Man, she loves Kevin.

 

Kevin and Emily

 

And J and her daddy.

 

Well, it's time to do something else today as summer slips away. We have some fun things planned this last week of sweet freedom. This last week of NOT being Mrs. Rogers, math teacher.

Some Scrappy Stuff

OK, funny story about scrapping. Em works at a retail store, and she said one day last week a woman she works with approached her with a funny question. It went something like, "Does your mom scrapbook? Because I think I've seen your picture before." Weird! Because I'm hardly what you'd call a scraplebrity. No, it's not a word. Just made it up. But Em's coworker referenced the layout in BHG last issue. Cool, huh?

Another weird story. My sister said a few weeks ago that a family friend spotted a layout with Jenna on it in the recent JoAnn's mailer. Now, I don't work for JoAnns, so I thought it had to be a mistake. Later that week I was in line at the grocery store and the lady in front of me had the weekly ad from Jo Ann's. I asked if I could look at it, and sure enough, there was my layout. On an advertisement for albums. All I know is it was something I did for Provo Craft, months ago. Funny that it would show up that way!

Here are a few recent layouts I did for Fancy Pants Designs. Sorry about the crooked scan. Don't know what happened here. Not my best scan, for certain.

And here is one about Jenna's fan club.

 

And here is one using the Monstrosities line from Sassafras Lass of two of my little monsters.

 

Have a great Wednesday. And to my teacher friends, don't look at the calendar. For serious.

To the zoo . . .

and home again we went. Took a trip to Columbus from Wednesday to Sunday and had a blast. It was a relaxing and fun-filled trip.

We got a package deal called Roar and Explore which got us tickets and lodging CHEAP. I mean, I thought it was a hoax, except for it was through the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, and I thought it may not be cool to rip us off through such an official site. LOL! It was less than $100 a day, everything included. No hidden costs once we got there.

It was overcast the whole trip, but that made it perfect in my opinion. No worries about sunburns or getting too hot. On Thursday we went to Zoombezi Bay Waterpark. What a fun place! It was quite warm, and rained for about 5 minutes at about 10:30. Otherwise, smooth sailing. Jenna's favorite thing was the wave pool. She and Bill spent about an hour drowning, I mean playing, in the waves. The smile on her face was priceless!

Friday was COSI. What a great experience! We got to see rats playing basketball, and watch people blow things up. It is truly hands-on, and we could have spent a week there exploring. We also went to Easton Town Center. It is a great outdoor shopping area. Got Jenna some school clothes, and her favorite purchase was these shoes. A definite back-to-school staple, don't you think?

 

Then Saturday, the coolest day, we were off to the zoo. Spent the longest time there, and walked until our feet were killing us. But Jenna is such an animal person, and loved every single second. It was well worth it to see her face with each new animal experience.

It was a great trip. I'm glad to be home, and spent the day yesterday catching up with the laundry, getting groceries, and just enjoying being home.

Summer is slipping away, my friends . . .