RE: Header

#1. Is it summer yet?
#2. How is it that they have grown up so fast?
#3. When will we ever get to the beach again?

Photo: July 2006 (Taryn 9, Grace 6, Reagan 4.5) Netarts, OR

The Best Lunch Ever...

A little guy in my first grade classroom was headed out to recess with his lunch in hand. Quickly about 20 other classmates told on him... I mean reminded him that his lunch was supposed to go in the lunch bucket.

I met him at the door and told him I would put his sack into the lunch bucket and he could pick it up in the cafeteria.

I don't know what made me peek into his lunch, but I did, and I could not believe my eyes!

His ENTIRE lunch consisted of one Diet Coke and 18 large marshmallows. Go figure.

Being the "mean" teacher I am, I told him he would need to purchase a hot lunch and that I would put his "snack" into his backpack for an after school snack.

Miley Rocks!

If you look *really* close - in front and just below the front tire - you can see a person with their arm up in the air. That is me! That is me rocking to Miley Cyrus in Portland with my girls. It was a wonderful night.

After the concert we stayed in the same motel that Miley had stayed at the night before...The Hotel Monaco. The funniest part of the night was when we pulled into the parking garage. The Honda doors slid open revealing our disaster of a mess. I told the girls to gather their things and we would go to our room. Reagan said, "Well lets just roll up a luggage cart, load her up and go to our room." Our valet commented that she must have done that before. Hmm...not so much. We are not regulars at hotels where Valet is the only parking option.

It was a memorable evening for mom, girls and friends!

Photo: http://justjaredjr.buzznet.com/

Fun Times

It was a fun time in Portland celebrating my sister turning 40 with 60+ of her closest friends.

I enjoyed all the 'me' time I had too.

A quiet drive to Portland

Listening to the songs I like on the radio

Hitting Costco and buying a new little camera

Spending the night at the Gray Inn (A wonderful bed & breakfast.)

Shopping - Shopping - Shopping

Found a cute card for Jill's Birthday

Got really lucky with a present too

Met lots of fun people who all adore my sister

Stayed up until 2 am....yawn!

Slept in until 9 am

Drove to IKEA

Ate lunch with my good friend Amie & her daughter at Red Robin

Drove home again

Went to bed - early!

A great weekend.

That '70's Night...

We have had the pleasure of attending a 'Trivia Night' get-together hosted by friends of ours for the past three years. It is always a night full of laughter and useless knowledge.



This year there was a twist. Everyone was asked to come decked out in 70's themed costumes.



It was fun searching the Internet for trends and digging through clothes at the senior center and Salvation Army to find the 'just right outfits.'



There were 20+ people there and every costume was outstanding. Here we are in 'Retro B&W':

Big Hair & Ponytails & Feathers

Fake eyelashes

Flower power

Polyester

Blue eyeshadow

Plaid

Bell bottoms

Great FUN...

Here we are again! This time in full color!

Groovy!

Peace & Love!!!

Happy Birthday Ms. Reagan

My 'baby' turned seven today and we partied like a rock star.

Hannah Montana to be specific, as if there was any doubt.

We had a Hannah Montana hair-do.

Hannah Montana BFFs.

Hannah Montana goodie bags.

Hannah Montana purple cupcakes.

Hannah Montana gifts galore...

And....

Drum roll please....

ask your children to leave the room now, please...

We had 'explicit' Hannah Montana fruit snacks!

What...

I know...

Yes, they are supposed to be 'guitars' and 'microphones'

But....hmmm...something else crossed my mind...

Gutter...my mind's second residence apparently...

again...my apologies.

Thank goodness my girls are not residing in the gutter with me.

They loved the guitars and microphones.

The Countdown Begins

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Usually paper.


2. Real tree or Artificial? Real, and we hunt it ourselves.


3. When do you put up the tree? Usually the first weekend in December.


4. When do you take the tree down? Depends, but always before January 1.


5. Do you like eggnog? Not much.


6. Favorite gift received as a child? I remember getting a bike...


7. Hardest person to buy for? My parents.


8. Easiest person to buy for? Myself...just kidding. (kinda) The kids are easy too.


9. Do you have a nativity scene? About 3 or 4


10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail


11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Chocolate Covered Cherries. They ruin perfectly good chocolate.


12. Favorite Christmas Movie? The Polar Express


13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually in the summer.


14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? yes


15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Fudge.


16. Lights on the tree? The more the better.


17. Favorite Christmas song? Silent Night...


18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Both


19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes


20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel


21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? (As soon as I find them.) The 'official' family opening is on the Eve.


22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Commercials to convince my kids they need more...more...more.


23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I have a Santa collection that I treasure.


24. What do you want for Christmas this year? Toys.


25. What do you leave for Santa? Cookies, fudge, milk and carrots for the reindeer.

Oops...Priceless?

I had the pleasure of taking my girls and three borrowed girls to the movie this afternoon. With the November rains settling in, a movie date was a perfect way to spend the afternoon.

I arrived at the movie early with 4 of the girls, the other 2 arrived within minutes. The moms and I visited briefly. When the high school boy unlocked the theater doors all six girls bailed out of the van quickly and ran inside. I said goodbye to the moms, rolled up the windows and headed inside. (Re-read this paragraph...it is important later.)

• We lined up for the tickets...$38.00
• We lined up for the popcorn...$11.00 *I bought 2 XL's and split them into Ziploc baggies-I am that smart-Re-read this bullet too.
• I bought 7 sodas...$18.00
• We found our seats.

Grace and her friend chose front row seats.

Taryn and her friend chose back row seats.

Reagan, her friend and I settled into the middle.

About an hour into High School Musical 3, the high school theater employee was walking toward me. Hmm....the girls didn't seem to be causing any trouble. Hmm...did he see the jellybeans I snuck into the theater. Hmm...no that wasn't it.

"Ma'am, did you drive the van here?"

"Uh, yes."

"You left your car running."

At this point, I wish it was about the smuggled jelly beans. I wanted to die. You should have seen the look on all three high school workers as I snuck out of the theater, found my car - unlocked and running, right where I left it. Hmm... Priceless?

Additional thoughts to ponder on this occasion:

• No wonder I only have 3 children. I'm not responsible enough for more.
• Thank goodness I married a Pollock as this type of behavior is expected.
• I live in a small town - so when I have these 'moments' my car is right where I left it.

and finally

• It may not be my 'natural' hair color anymore...but it's pretty obvious I am a true blonde.

They're back...

My thieves are back.

No not the ones that stole our stuff from our garage and barn. No I'm talking about the Squirrels. They are now leaving the birds alone. They don't need to steal bird seed when they have delightful little pumpkins to snack on. The little pests leave quite a mess. I'm not loving the squirrels right now.

The Grocery Game

Many thanks to Athena for finding this wonderful web site. I have only been 'playing' The Grocery Game for two weeks now and it is so FUN. I know I risk sounding like a big DORK...but try it and you'll like it. I am going to add a tally on the side of my blog so I can keep up with how much money I am saving our family. Then when I go on a shoe shopping spree I can do it with less guilt. I'll take any angle I can if it means guilt-free shoe shopping.

The basic concept is...subscribe to this service...clip coupons from the Sunday newspaper...then follow the list. This service researches trends on In Store Sales and coupons and then combines the two to offer you the best savings.

A small downside to the 'game' is that it takes preparation. You can not simply go shopping on a whim. It also requires that you have space so you can stock up on items when they are on sale. I figured that the summer was the best time for me to start.

Week one my grocery cart was filled to the top with 14 boxes of cereal and lots of other random items. My total bill was $291.60...until the coupons started being subtracted. I wrote a check in the amount of $153.34... a savings of $138.26 or 47 %.

Week two I had a larger variety of items in my cart, and less groceries overall. I didn't 'need' many items from the blue list. (Blue=Best Buys) I did come home with a few Green items. (Green=Free Items) My total bill was $127.42 My check total was $77.87. A savings of $49.49 or 39%.

If you are interested just ask Athena or I about it, as we are both 'excited' about our new game. Hmmm...do you think we need to get out of little 'ole Pendleton more often if this is our excitement? Maybe with all the money we save we will be able to afford a luxurious vacation.

I'm getting a tattoo...

Not! Happy April Fools day!

I'm Pregnant...

Not! Happy April Fools Day!

Scattergories

Thanks Lindsay...thought I'd play too...




Scattergories is a fast-thinking category-based party game produced by Hasbro through the Milton Bradley Company and published in 1988. The objective of the 2-to-6-player game is to score points by uniquely naming objects within a set of categories, given an initial letter, within a time limit.



1. What is your name? Anne


2. 4 letter word: Arts


3. Vehicle: A junker (does that count?)


4. City: Athena


5. Boy Name: Arnie


6. Girl Name: Ashley


7. Alcoholic drink: Ale


8. Occupation: Astronaut


9. Something you wear: Apron


10. Celebrity: Ashley Olsen


11. Food: Applesauce


12. Country: Afghanistan


13. Something found in a bathroom: Art ?


14. Reason for Being Late? Arthritis


15. Cartoon Character: Ariel


16. Something you shout: AMEN!


17. Animal: Ape


18. Body Part: Arm


19. Words to describe you: Angelic?


Angelic...well probably not..as I CHEATED majorly in doing this task. Obviously it is harder to do this when your name begins with a vowel, right? !

This took me at least 5 minutes (google searching included.)

Good luck to you Athena...I already used the good(only) A words. :-)

A Penny Thought: This is for all of you out there that may SOMEDAY play ANY game with me...I'm not that great...and you've got to keep your eye on me at ALL TIMES!

Three Children

By Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott

If you click on the cartoon it will enlarge so you can read it better.

A penny thought: I always guessed that they really do have it all figured out!

Dancing Elves...

A fun free site to check out is http://www.elfyourself.com/

Check out the girls and Jake: www.elfyourself.com/?id=1128948500