memories for everyone

New Blog....

2011-06-14T19:30:00.000-07:00

I have not posted here in a while.... I am working on a new blog to go along with my fitness focus. Not much there yet, but check it out if you are interested.
Strength for Everyone

I also finally went kicking and screaming into facebook land (thanks Shannon) and I like it. Most of it still scares me, and I have no clue how to do much with facebook, but I am there and posting about oatmeal and things going on with my crazy little monkeys. No clue how to link to anything on facebook, but I think everyone knows how to find people there except me! :)

Life is good. Here is a recent picture of the crazy monkeys at swimming lessons.... they are loving science camp and swimming lessons this week. Kal just made 8U softball allstars and Kaya just read the entire Diary of a Wimpy Kid series in just over 10 days. Feeling lucky every day to be their MOM.

Short Haircuts for all three girls

2011-04-27T20:16:00.001-07:00

We are all three LOVING our new short haircuts. We are READY for school to get out and SUMMER to begin. :)

Crock-Pot Caramel Apple Oatmeal

2011-04-10T20:16:00.000-07:00

THIS WAS AWESOME. I mean, really, really good. Amazing. YUM!

(I cut and pasted this from https://www.facebook.com/#!/RecipesforGals) I am just trying it and will let you know what I think.... so far, it looks INCREDIBLE. I love her book: http://www.amazon.com/Ways-Oatmeal-Other-Treats-Tricks/dp/1936631024 I just love it. I have had oatmeal all weekend and have more on our menu for the upcoming week... ***************************** Crock-Pot Caramel Apple Oatmeal This is so good. I could easily say oatmeal is my favorite meal of the day. Makes 5 servings Ingredients: 8 cups chopped Fuji apples (about 6 apples) 1/4 cup TORANI sugar-free CARAMEL syrup (this is to die for - I just bought a bunch of new flavors) 2 tbsp. brown sugar or brown sugar/splenda mix (not packed) 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, divided 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats 1 cup light vanilla soymilk 1/3 cup sugar-free pancake syrup 1/2 tsp. salt Directions:In a large bowl, mix apples with 1 tbsp. brown sugar and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Stir to coat apples well. Transfer to the crock pot.In the empty bowl, combine oats, soymilk, 1 tbsp. brown sugar, 1 tsp. cinnamon, syrup, and salt. Add 1 cup water and mix well.Add oat mixture to the crock pot, and gently stir. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 7 hours. Nutrition:Calories: 249Fat: 4.5gSodium: 320mgCarbs: 52gFiber: 7.5gProtein: 4.5g

Corn Cashew Soup

2011-03-23T17:45:00.000-07:00

I got this from an AMAZING site for blending... it is http://www.blenditandmendit.com/

The lady is wacky healthy and the girls and I LOVE watching her blend things....

I made this in a Health Master Blender I am borrowing until my Vitamix comes.

I am obsessed with green smoothies and overall a healthier way to eat myself and feed my family (the stuff they do not run away from). I feel the best I have ever felt about the direction I am taking healthwise..... and giving in to my compulsion for this blender is part of that! :)

For this soup you simply need corn (fresh would have rocked, I used frozen), raw cashews, and water. Cannot get much cleaner. You can add some pepper and cilantro at the end which I did and it was wonderful. Amazing actually for 8 minutes in the blender and only the blender cup to clean which is super easy. Even Kaya ate it. :)

You can get the link to this soup here:

http://www.blenditandmendit.com/soups/vitamix-anti-aging-cashew-corn-chowder/

Or, this is how I cut and paste her notes into my recipe binder:

Cashew Corn Chowder
3 1/4 cups of fresh, sweet corn, which I shaved from the cobs this morning. You only need to add 2 1/4 cups to the blender and save a cup of it for the garnish.
Then add in 2 cups of water, I made a couple of other modifications to Ani’s recipe and I’ll tell you about them as I go along. And then, 1/2 cup of raw cashews.
We know that raw cashews are high in fat, that’s good. That’s the good fat, the comforting fat that also nourishes you, that fills up those empty spaces.
2 TBS of extra virgin olive oil
one tsp of kosher sea salt
1/2 clove of garlic
Let’s blend it up, 1-2-3 in the VitaMix and you’ll see how creamy and elegant it comes out, start on low and walk it up. That’s all there is to it.
And remember that corn that we saved? Garnish with some fresh corn, a dash of black pepper, sprinkle a little on and some chopped cilantro.

If you are thinking about getting a Vitamix - get it from Jane at http://www.blenditandmendit.com/ and you get free shipping. It is the same price on all sites... I wish I had found her site before I ordered mine. Once you sign up for her email, you get this awesome blend it and mend it guide that I printed and have in a binder. This site is a great place to get a concept of how you can take better care of your body and why I am obsessed with getting a vitamix. :)

Pine-Sol and Puke....

2011-03-09T11:01:00.000-08:00

I hate days like today. The girls and I have been sick all week. There is not time for a mom to be sick. Especially a working mom who is taking classes at night and whose mom is not here. Today was one of those days I needed someone to help me. I started the day throwing up and just wanted to stay in bed. But, the germs are not going to get out of my house by themselves so I got up, and began a wild cleaning festival that resulted in my throwning up in the bucket I just hand moped the kitchen floor with.... gross. But, at least the vomit germs were instantly sanatized and they smelled pine-sol fresh. :( I have missed work and where I work, you have no sick time, and the bills do not change. In fact, with the three dr. visits for the girls, we will spend more this month and I will make way less..... So missed work equals missed money equals more stress. Needless to say, I am in the middle of one long week.

And, I want my Mom. Plain and simple I want her here to tell me this will be OK. To help me re-make all the beds I just pulled apart to clean the sheets. To make me lie down while she dumps out the bucket of pine-sol and puke. I am almost 40 and I was lucky to have my mom most of my life. But, it still sucks that she is gone. That I am here without her for however many years I have left on this earth. That my girls will never remember how much she loved them. That when you lose your mom, there are no places to go to apply for a new one.... spouses get remarried and fill that hole with someone new. Kids just get left behind and no one steps up to take care of them like a mom does. No one knows all your stories and knows what you need when you need it. I know this sounds whiney and it is. I am mad and sad that my mom is gone and that no one will ever love me like she loved me. No matter how much I miss her or how much I loved & appreciated her when she was here will not change the fact that she is dead and gone. I am here to take care of her mom in her place and take care of her grandkids and myself..... and I am not feeling up to the task this week. I just want her to come by to check on me, see that I am in way over my head and tell me to go to sleep and that it will be all right. Because, when she was alive, it always was all right. If not, she sure made it feel that way. And I miss feeling like that. I miss it a lot.

Kaya Turned Six

2011-02-27T18:54:00.000-08:00

And she loved every minute of her birthday weekend. From Cupcake Decorating in her class to her small but FUN party at the "trampoline place", we really had fun celebrating the baby of our family turning 6. Here are a few of the hundreds of pictures I took over the past few days:

Clean Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce

2011-02-25T06:34:00.000-08:00

I found this on a flier in a pack of vitamins I bought and tried it. It was great.
Here is the recipe:
Spicy Red Pepper Pasta Sauce
1 tbsp. olive oil
5 cups chopped sweet red peppers
2 cups chopped onions
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 small serrano chili, deseeded and finely chopped (I skipped this)

Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add all ingredients except serrano chili and cook until peppers are very tender (about 25 minutes).
Stir frequently while cooking.
Spoon mixture into a blender, add serrano chili, and blend until smooth.
Add a few teaspoons of water if necessary (I had to add water to get it to blend in my blender).

Serves 6.

Calories: 80.5
Fat: 2g
Sat. Fat: 0
Fiber: 3g
Carbs: 14g
Protein: 1.5g

I love my Fit Book!

2011-02-05T07:53:00.000-08:00

I wanted to post a few pictures of what I use to keep track of everything I eat and all of my workouts. I use the awesome Fit Book (which has space for 12 weeks of food and fitness info). I have used this faithfully for about the past 16 months. I write down EVERYTHING in it and carry it with me everywhere. I take an hour and personalize it every 12 weeks so it makes me happy every time I pull it out of my purse. My Kindergarteners even recognize it and when they find it around the classroom they say "Miss Kristi, I just found your food book!" I love that they know I write it all down to keep track." Sometimes they ask me to get it so they can see if I ran or lifted that morning. :) Here are a few pictures:

Kaya is about to turn 6.

2011-01-17T13:34:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe it. My baby - the youngest Sikora grandkid is soon turning 6. Hardly seems possible. But, it is totally going to happen so we might as well put on our CAMO clothes and celebrate. Here are some pictures I took today of her in her full camo outfit. Man, I love this child so much it hurts my heart.

five years ago today....

2010-12-29T23:04:00.000-08:00

This is what I put in the local paper for Busia. I know my Mom would think it was insane to do this, but it means a lot to Busia. I hate today. I hate thinking all day about going to their house and being a part of everything that was connected to the accident. I hate the way thinking about it makes me feel inside. I hate that families lose people they love every day for random reasons and they have to live with that sick feeling for the rest of their lives.

Missing you on your 5th Anniversary in Heaven

Sheila Ann Sikora
Five years ago today everything changed. We could never express how much we miss your light and your laughter. It still seems like this all never could have happened to our wonderful family. Like a mistake was made, and everything will somehow be OK again. All of us miss you so much it hurts to think about. We pray every day that you are watching over us and that you are able to look over your grandbabies as they grow up. You will always be the best daughter, mom, wife, Nana and friend that ever was. We have missed you for five long years and we will all love you forever and ever.
With all the love our hearts can hold,
Your Mom, Kids, Husband, and Grandkids

Surrounded by blessings...

2010-12-23T19:33:00.000-08:00

Christmas is different without my Mom. It is very hard to not constantly think "Five years ago today, I had no idea it would be the last Christmas with her." And to go over and over in my head what it would be like if she were still here. I try not to do that to myself, but it seems my mind cannot stop doing that to myself. I am trying this year to just accept that as part of what goes on with me for the holidays. I close my eyes and try to remember how simply happy we all were on Christmas 2005 - 5 days before she died. I think about the presents she got the girls and how much fun it was to just be around her. I think about how much she would LOVE to be here with us this Christmas and how stunned she would be at how big and funny my daughters are. I try hard to focus on all the incredible blessing that still surround me every single day and I try to let go of the sheer sadness at what my girls are missing. It is hard though. It is hard to accept that neither one of them will remember their wonderful Nana. It is harder to imagine how many more years I have on earth without the love my Mom. I keep wishing for one more regular Christmas full of love and laughter at her house. The way I kind of always thought it would be. I am so grateful for the blessings that are still here.

Kaya Won Fire Prevention!!

2010-11-02T09:56:00.000-07:00

And I was lucky to be there because her teacher had let me know! She was stunned, Kalli was stunned, and it was just an amazing life moment. She was the first kid up there in front of the ENTIRE SCHOOL. It was so cool and I felt so proud of her. I always wanted to win the fire prevention contest and I never did.... it was MUCH better watching your child win than winning myself would have been. What a great day! If you look carefully at the TOP of the bottom picture, you can see Kalli's stunned face. I loved that picture!! We were so proud of her. Way to go Kaya. And, I shot this ALL without flash because I got to take Karen Russel's photography class. She rocks.

Halloween Totally Rocked!

2010-11-01T09:29:00.001-07:00

Neil always lets the girls paint his face and do his hair and they LOVE IT! We had a great time trick or treating in our neighborhood and going to Kaya's Kindergarten teacher's house for a little party, too.

We ran into Kaya's cute little boyfriend, Griffin, while trick-or-treating. They are such cute little friends.

The glasses made Kalli's entire outfit.

Cake Pops

2010-09-26T14:54:00.000-07:00

I am not even sure why I thought it would be smart to try this.... but I saw a video on line and the girls and I attempted to make CAKE POPS today. It was a lot harder than the video, but it was a whole lot of fun, too. We loved it. The girls thought it was great. They want to go to the local book signing for this lady's book to ask her how she got this idea and how she made it look so easy. It took an hour to clean the kitchen, but the memories were totally worth it.

Project for Class

2010-09-26T14:49:00.000-07:00

I am taking classes at Taylor University in their Transistion to Teaching department. This should allow me to move from private to public which would give me more money AND I hope to get in the same district as the girls so we will have the same academic schedule. I had to do a bulletin board project for my Children's Lit class. I loved it. I am so excited to bring it to school tomorrow to use with my class.

First Day Of School

2010-08-18T19:21:00.000-07:00

Well, my baby is in Kindergarten now (sniff, sniff). She did incredible. She loved it. Her teacher is incredible and I feel so lucky that Kaya gets to be in her class. I was there helping most of the day today so I have a ton of pictures (took over 400 for the day). Here are just a few of both my girls at our morning photo shoot. They are such good sports. Kal loves her third grade teacher, too.

Chicago Half Marathon was TODAY!

2010-08-01T18:52:00.000-07:00

I did the Chicago Rock n Roll Half Marathon with Neil this year. He usually runs it a lot faster than I do... but he has a knee injury. So, we ran about three miles and had to walk the rest due to the extreme pain in his knee. It was nice just hanging out with him for that long, and we were walking at a slower than normal pace, so it felt nice. I even took pictures with my new (I LOVE IT) mytouch phone and posted to FACEBOOK if you can believe it. Last week I had never used facebook and only had a very old RAZR phone.... and here I was today, posting on facebook from my phone while walking/running 13.1 miles. Go Me! :) Also... here are three fun pictures that we had taken at a booth at the health fair we went to yesterday in Chicago!

A few more Florida pictures I love...

2010-07-28T17:24:00.000-07:00

We were only there five days and I took over 1600 pictures. It was a wonderful trip. Here are a few more I just love.

The Jacksonville Zoo

2010-07-27T15:07:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few of the pictures we took at the Jacksonville Zoo.

At the Beach

2010-07-26T17:20:00.001-07:00

I took about 500 pictures of the girls at the beaches while we were in Florida. I could not stop taking pictures so I would never forget how awesome it was. I swear Kalli looks like a teenager in these pictures. All of us sure loved the ocean. It was amazing to see them play in the ocean. I wish we lived by water.

Super Family

2010-07-15T21:25:00.000-07:00

We were lucky to get some lower priced tickets to Great American through Neil's work. We totally surprised the girls. It was a great day. Kaya won us all CAPES so we could be a SUPER FAMILY. It was awesome. Neil and I were the only adults wearing capes that day at the park, and I LOVED IT. I do have a super family.

We love Florida!

2010-07-14T18:49:00.000-07:00

The girls and I came down to visit my best friend Shannon. We have had the best time. I have taken over 800 pictures in just three days. Here are just a couple that Shannon uploaded to our husbands from our SUPER FUN day at Sea World and then Dinner with Mickey.

Of course she had our four kids in coordinating tie die shirts. Tomorrow she has new LIFE IS GOOD shirts for all of us to wear. It has just been wonderful and the girls are LOVING on her new baby girl. I wish we lived closer to them because LIFE IS GOOD with the Beckham family.

Lucky

2010-07-13T21:23:00.000-07:00

When I see this in the morning, I realize how simply LUCKY I am to live my life. They share a bed ALL SUMMER. Not just a room, most days, they fit into one or the other's twin bed snuggled all into each other. I love when they do this.

Happy Father's Day Neil!

2010-07-11T21:19:00.000-07:00

The girls love any reason to celebrate, so you bet they loved Father's Day. I loved both of these pictures so much.

Softball Rocks

2010-07-08T20:55:00.001-07:00

Oh I am always so sad to see the softball season end. Here are a few shots of Kaya's first year (she was soooo cute - it looked like her uniform was eating her she was so small - she was by far the smallest kid on the team) and some of Kalli who was an AMAZING catcher this year. How I love coaching them. I wish my Mom was there on the sidelines because she really would have loved watching them both play.

Kaya Graduated

2010-06-15T21:01:00.000-07:00

And it was awesome. Well, it rained so we had to move it all inside and it was hot and we had too many people in a small place, but it was still awesome. She was so proud and said her part in the poem nice and loudly. She looked incredible, too. She was so proud and so happy. She kept asking me to take more pictures. I loved it. I love anything that celebrates life and accomplishments. Here are some pictures....

I was so lucky to have been her Pre-K teacher for 187 wonderful days.

I cannot even imagine

2010-06-09T18:36:00.000-07:00

the pain a mother goes through when she buries her child. My friend Val has a dear friend and neighbor who lost a 16 year old daughter on Monday. She was in a car accident in the rain on Memorial Day and she died as a result of her injuries after a week of intense surgeries at the hospital. She was a twin. So she left behind her best friend and sister of 16 years and an older sister.... I simply cannot imagine. So, I offered to help my friend Val prepare for the wake which is tomorrow. For about the last 24 hours I have scrapbooked non-stop with the help of about 30 teens for a few crazy hours last night. I took it all home afterwards and worked on it all day today. I created a four foot by eight foot wall (using a huge sheet of foam from Lowes) of the FRIENDS pages that ended up one of the most incredible things ever. To see that many pages set up like that was just amazing.

I also trimmed a 3' x 3' foam piece for another board and used three nice boards the funeral home provided. I put a few pictures in frames, too. It is all in page protectors (with the holes trimmed off) and the page protectors are glued to the boards. This way, after the funeral, we just slip out all 58 12 x 12 pages and put them into a binder Val has purchased so the family will have it forever. I hate that this family has to do this tomorrow. I hate it. I hate that their daughter is gone forever because of rain on a road at 2 PM on a Monday. I hate that all of their lives changes forever in that one instance. It all just makes me so sad. I pray they find some comfort somehow.

I love pictures like this

2010-06-04T09:43:00.000-07:00

I just love looking at them helping Busia. I love watching them from behind when they really have no idea I am looking. I love watching them sort of walk into the future.... there is something about photos of their backs looking forward that make my heart race a little. I pray they never forget how much love they brought into every day of Busia's life.

K crew

2010-06-03T09:37:00.000-07:00

I love that my little camera has a setting that helps you take self portraits because we sure love taking them.

Missing My Mom

2010-06-02T09:32:00.000-07:00

Here is where we went on Mother's day.... we went to the farmer's market and then we took Busia to see the Stone my dad had purchased for my Mom by this big statue of Mother Mary in a neighboring town. It was happy and horribly sad at the same time. Busia had no clue Dad had done this so it was a bit overwhelming to her. The girls thought it was so cool to see her name carved in the stone. I just kept wishing we were cooking out with her instead of standing by a stone bearing her name. Man I miss her. I guess I just always will. It never really gets better. Ever.

What I woke up to on Saturday....

2010-06-01T09:26:00.000-07:00

Busia had babysat for Kaya on Friday night so I could go to the movies with friends and then Matt and I went out to hear Neil play live guitar at a bar. Kalli was at a sleepover so Kaya slept with Busia. When I got up on Saturday, this is what I saw... I ran down to grab the camera to capture this cute little moment on film. Kaya was so funny trying to teach Busia how to play guess who. I love that Kaya is playing this game with her Great Grandma. I love it. And, how cute does Kaya look anyway??

Getting Smarter as I get older...

2010-05-31T09:25:00.000-07:00

OK, I had a GRAND plan for a garden we were going to plant this summer. I read a magazine and even drew out the plan. It was going to be 6' x 4' in our yard. I talked to people who know how to garden and got a list of things we needed to buy. Off I went with the girls and my cool brother Matt to pick up what we needed from Lowes this weekend. While in the store, piling our cart high with everything we needed, I suddenly felt like I could not breathe.... WHAT AM I THINKING??? Pulling up all that grass to attempt to plant when I have no clue what I am doing?? We had fencing, steaks, weed tarp, tomato cages, lots of dirt, plants, tools, etc.... I asked my brother when I became a farmer!! I THANKFULLY realized while still in Lowes that I was in WAY over my head. So we pared it down. Put back a few plants, the steaks and fencing, all the tools and most of the dirt. We picked up more pots (we were already planning to plant 5 herbs in pots anyway) and went home. On Sunday Matt, Rahul the girls and I peacefully planted our little, manageable garden in pots on our deck. Ahhhhhh, it was wonderful. Start to finish it took one hour instead of the entire day. The girls TOTALLY LOVED IT. And it should be easy to maintain. We hopefully will have some tomatoes, cucumbers, various peppers and sweet peas in addition to great smelling herbs to use in our clean cooking. I AM SO PROUD that I realized I was insane before we left with all that stuff and dug up my yard! I mean, now, if everything dies I throw the pots away and we can pretend it never happened. That would be impossible if I had left a 6 x 4 foot gaping hole in our nice yard. I am happy. It makes me happy. We watered it today and the girls love it. It is totally a new thing for me to REALIZE I am going off the deep end and STOP MYSELF before it happens. I like it. I might try it more often in fact.

Here is to hoping we get some good eats out of our potted vegetables. And to knowing I can throw it all out if we do not! :)

Before and after

2010-05-17T19:57:00.001-07:00

And I am not even done with my after.....

I do not even remember how I heard about it, but somehow I entered a contest for Life Fitness based on the concept of people choosing to be healthy. And they sent me a shirt, and I was so proud that they sent me a shirt that said I LIVE IT. I hope I live it. I hope I make strong choices every day. I really want to be an example for the girls that they have choices to make in their lives, and I want to fill their choices with healthy options.
Well, today, I received an email from Life Fitness asking me for BEFORE and AFTER pictures (I totally had no clue that was part of the contest or I so never would have entered). So I dug up this horrible picture from a few years ago - there were two of them. When I saw this one, it made me so sad. I felt like it was my head on someone else's body. I really did. When I saw these pictures, I joined weight watchers, we got an elliptical and some weights and I started working. And I have worked on and off for the past three years. The weight has come off VERY slowly, and I still have 15 pounds to go - but I eat clean and feel SO MUCH BETTER every day. I have no clue what will happen with the contest - but since I had to email her these pictures, I thought I would post them, too... the before.... And my after are the race pictures... already posted below... but I wanted to post one of them so I could see them both in one post.
I know I can keep doing this every day. At least I am moving in the right direction, right???

I am a runner.

2010-05-16T21:21:00.000-07:00

Wow, that feels cool, to say. I have wanted to be a runner since middle school when I was playing on the volleyball and basketball teams and I would see all the cross country and track kids come through the gym. I thought about how amazing it must feel to be that strong. And to be able to run like they ran. I have always had poor knees, and I thought it would keep me from ever running. Now, at 38 - I started to run this past January. I started slowly following a program that allowed me to build up to actually RUNNING. And, it seemed to work. I was worried my knees would not hold out - they were SO SORE when Matt and I tried to run every other mile in the Indy Mini Marathon last weekend. We only made it to running mile four and it felt like someone was stabbing us in the knees. We still did great and cut 25 minutes off our last years mini marathon time - Matt and I finished in 2 hours and 52 minutes last weekend. We walked most of it REALLY FAST and ran just under four miles. So, our goal was under 3 hours and we did it, but I was sad all week that I was unable to run more.

With my first attempt to run a real 5K happening today, I wondered if I could do it. Well, I DID IT! I ran the entire thing and there were even hills! It was hard, but wonderful. I wanted to run it all and do it in under 30 minutes if it was possible - well, I ran it all and ran it in 28:06 (and I even had to stop and tie my shoe!!). I started sobbing when I crossed the finish line because I felt like NOW I can say "I am a runner." My knees might never allow me to run a full mini marathon, and I am ok with that. Because I did run a 5K and I ran it wtih a very respectable time. I beat my goal - just 8 days after my knees killing me in the mini. I did it. I ran by myself outside for the first time ever ( I run on my treadmill and I love running inside). I ran fast for me, too. Fast enough to allow me to call myself a runner. And it felt great. Really, really great. And that makes me really really happy. And I love pictures with some random guy dressed like a banana - that makes me happy, too!

Mother's Day when your Mom is in Heaven...

2010-05-09T06:13:00.000-07:00

I am embarrassed to admit that I have always LOVED Mother's Day. When I was little I thought it was the neatest holiday ever. I loved having a day to celebrate my Mom. I loved the displays, the balloons, the phone call commercials reminding you over and over to call your mother. Then, when I became a mother myself, I got the best of both worlds. I was able to completely celebrate my amazing mother and be showered with hugs and kisses from the little people I had created in my own belly. Does it really get any better than that I often wondered. Well, then my Mom died in a freak accident and it left me reeling on Mother's Day. Here I am, still a mother who little people want to celebrate and yet I want to scream every time I hear a commercial telling me to call my Mom. How can you do that when she is dead I wonder! The first year she was gone I actually had to walk out of the grocery store to resist the urge to push over the displays of flowers, cookies and balloons. Now, I just turn my head and walk by sadly. I feel embarrassed because I loved this day soooooo much before having no concept how hard it was on all of those whose Moms are gone. No concept how it feels like you cannot breathe inside while smiling and accepting handmade gifts of love from your cute little babies. For the rest of my life I have to dread and pretend to love this day. I am so sorry for anyone reading this who does not have a Mom to celebrate. I am so sorry for all the years I loved this day never once thinking about how hard it could be for so many people. I have to go jump back in bed and pretend to be alseep because little people that used to live in my belly are upstairs messing up the kitchen trying to surprise me with breakfast in bed. I hope everyone finds a way to find peace this fine Mother's Day.

Thank you cards

2010-05-04T18:10:00.000-07:00

This is what we did for Kalli's thank you cards. I love that my friend Shannon taught me how to add text to a picture. I love how it looks and how simple it is to do.

Opening Day for Softball

2010-05-03T18:02:00.000-07:00

It was a great day. Kaya had her very first softball game ever - she was soooo cute. She is the smallest on her team and it sort of looked like her uniform was swallowing her. She fell down twice and was so proud to pop right back up! Kalli is a catcher this year and I love it. She loves it, too. I am coaching both of them, and it makes me feel so proud to watch them as they become athletes.

I love these faces.

2010-05-02T18:01:00.000-07:00

They are the best little travelers on earth. I am taking them and Busia to a wedding in Colorado. I cannot wait to see them in their wedding dresses (they are in the wedding). I will post photos of that as soon as we get back.

8 year ago today

2010-05-01T17:57:00.000-07:00

I became a mother. I actually struggle to remember what my life was like before I was a mom. It was just cool. And I have loved every part of it for 8 years - even the scary, yucky stuff. I know it will be over too soon and I try to appreciate the little things every day. I am so lucky that she is still at the age where she likes wearing our family BIRTHDAY HAT. It was a great day. We leave to go to a wedding in Colorado at 4 in the morning, so we had a birthday lunch instead of dinner and the kiddos are already snuggled together in Kaya's little bed!

STOP THE CAR!

2010-04-26T19:55:00.000-07:00

This is what Kaya yells out about every 10 yards when we are driving down the road. She simply cannot pass a field of dandelions without trying to make us stop so she can go pick them. She loves those flowers so much, and we take the back roads to school - there are a lot of un-mowed lawns back there, so she yells it out a lot. Today, even though we were rushing home from work for our first practice game, I stopped the car. She could not believe it. She said "Do I really get to get out?" She was so excited. And I got the best pictures and she had the best time. I am so glad I stopped the car! I love that top image - it makes me think my mom is smiling down on her from Heaven as she happily picks those flowers.

the MYO party was a BIG hit!

2010-04-25T10:14:00.000-07:00

The girls loved it. Neil, Matt and I feel like we have been hit by a truck, but I think that is a sign of a really cool party. They made their own Pizza, Sundaes, Music CDs (and they ALL sang which was incredible) and Purses. They Loved all of it. It was so cool having them all be so excited to sew and sing. The girls were just fun to be around. They seemed so grown up this year. And it was so much fun. Here are just a few of the 250 pictures I took yesterday.

To be five years old again....

2010-04-14T15:29:00.000-07:00

Kaya came RUNNING into the house this weekend telling me that I had to come and see "the best thing EVER!" She was out of breath from running to get me. She ran me all the way back to this hill behind our house that leads into a retention area.... she was jumping for joy because she had searched the yard for dandelions and only found a few.... then, Daddy showed her that the unmowed hill was FULL of them. She was soooo excited. She said "Isn't this the most beutiful hill ever?" I love how she sees a hill of weeds as something of amazing beauty. I wish she would always feel that way. She needed more flowers because her and her sister were making a project on the driveway. I hated that we had to move it to get the cars into the garage. At least I have the pictures.

Scrapbooking makes me very very happy!

2010-04-13T19:25:00.000-07:00

I was lucky to go to a crop this Friday. Felt organized and got a lot done... here are some of the pages.... And, I put them RIGHT into my labeled LOM albums. Ahhhh, it was nice. I really love having a place to put random pages. I am trying to use more patterned paper, and I used it on most of these pages....

Kalli is turning 8

2010-04-12T19:22:00.000-07:00

How did my baby get to be eight years old??? Man, time sure does fly.
Made invitations for her GROOVY M.Y. O. (make your own) party this weekend. We are making pizza, sundaes, purses and a CD. Neil will have them sing and pull it onto a CD for them to take home. I have a LOT of work to do and the party just got moved UP.... but it should be fun for sure.

My Library of Memories Albums are labeled!

2010-04-11T18:26:00.001-07:00

Ohhhhhh, I know I am WAY more excited about this than I should be, but my heart RACES when I walk by this shelf. I got the shelf out of the attic and got the spines all labeled today. I love them. I MEAN I LOVE THEM! I am so happy with how simple they were and how consistent they look. I love the photos on the circle tags. I love all of it. THIS is just cool.

The girls are in a wedding....

2010-04-11T18:23:00.001-07:00

Here they are in their dresses and the new shoes we got them today.
They are so excited to fly on a plane to go to Colorado in just a couple weeks.
(the close ups of the shoes are for my Auntie Julie to see them.)

A few more Easter shots

2010-04-06T18:32:00.003-07:00

Had issues posting these this weekend.... but her are a few more pictures of the girls this Easter Weekend. Kal has wanted a Rubik Cube forever.... and Kaya CAN READ these awesome BOB BOOKS (These totally got her over the hump and the kid is picking up and totally reading ON HER OWN now - so happy I got her the first set). We did an Easter Egg hunt for my sister Mindy's kids, and what a cute shot of all four GREAT Grandkids with Busia. Ahhhh, a nice, simple day. The way holidays should be. :)

Happy Scrapbooker!

2010-04-06T18:29:00.000-07:00

I love scrapbooking. I am taking the Library of Memories Class at big picture scrapbooking and it is making me sort lots of photos. As I come across a photo I love, I set it aside and have been making time at night to make a page. I love having my category binders to slide them right into. The entire process of scrapbooking makes me feel peaceful, happy, and like a good mom because I am making time to tell their stories. Going to a crop this weekend - I CANNOT WAIT!

I often wonder how I got so lucky

2010-04-03T18:46:00.000-07:00

That I get to be the mom to these two?
So very blessed and lucky. And I am truly grateful for pictures like this that show the sunshine I believe dances in their souls.

A wonderful day

2010-04-02T18:49:00.001-07:00

We spent today with great friends (Kalli's Boyfriend since she was two years old). And we simply had a lot of fun. Bowling with the Easter Bunny, catching frogs and coloring Easter Eggs in the sunshine. We could not have had a better day really. It was amazing. I took 207 photos since this morning. Here are just a few...

Wonderful Day in Chicago

2010-03-30T20:06:00.000-07:00

We went to the Shedd Aquarium today with Kim (from Germany) and my dad and Jeanne. We had a blast. My favroite part of the day was taking these fun jumping shots over the skyline.... it was REALLY hard to get four people to jump at the same time!

Kim totally rocks!

2010-03-29T19:06:00.000-07:00

We just loved having her here - here are just a few pictures.
I hope my kids remember this week forever.
I wonder if they will be exchange students one day.

I made 34 12 x 12 pages this weekend!

2010-03-28T18:37:00.000-07:00

Yeah I did -- it was sooooo exciting. And VERY busy - we had Kim, from Germany, with us for a few days.... and it had always been my plan to help her make a scrapbook of her time here. And time was just getting away from us. Since she was here for a few days, we made the most of it. We knocked it out. We first organized all her photos by theme (seemed much more fun than date), and then we started making divider pages for each section and she has lots of 4 x 6 open page protectors to fill up between the sections! It was so exciting - so insane, but so exciting, too. I felt happy creating a memory that will last a lifetime for her. I picture her children looking at it one day. Best of all - she loved it. She was so grateful and excited... she kept looking at it over and over which made me happy. I even sewed on the flag page - with my machine! I know people have done this forever... but man, I liked it. Here are a few of the pages that I loved. I included one of the 4 x 6 pages so you could see how cool they will look when Kim adds her photos and her touches.

Easter Bunny Picture 2010

2010-03-24T20:36:00.000-07:00

My Mom never asked for much. She never wanted for much either. She was completely content just having healthy kids, a fun life partner, and a happy family. Seriously.... the only material thing she EVER ask me for EVER (well, other than grandchildren) was for each of us three kids (me, mindy, and matt) to get our picture taken with the Easter Bunny and Santa each and every year. So, there we were... 16 years old HORRIFIED to be seen at our local mall sitting on the bunny's lap, so we would drive to other towns. I thought she was insane... and yet, I will beg my children every year to do the same for me. These pictures are classic. They show exactly how we were at that moment in time. Who I was dating or friends with (because you know I drug them with me to random out of the way malls because I was not about to stand in line with a bunch of little kids alone). They show us. And, seeing a picure of kids with an easter bunny or santa will ALWAYS remind me of how happy simple things made my mom. Man, I miss her. In her honor today (as we do twice a year) I grab anyone around and force them to the mall.... today I felt lucky to have My Busia (my mom's mom), my girls, my brother Matt, and Kim - a wonderful friend of our family who is here from Germany on a Rotary Exchange (she is staying with us this week). It was fun. It was simple. It was expensive (but they gave me the photo on a little flash drive so I can upload it - very cool). And it was a tradition. A tradition I am happy to say I will never break. Man, I wish my mom was here for us to give this to.
And, I hope I never forget how simple things can make someone very, very happy.

Made a CONNECTIONS page

2010-03-21T11:52:00.000-07:00

In the Library of Memories Class (which I love love love) we were supposed to make a CONNECTIONS page last week. I sketched it, but just made time to make it last night. In the class you mix older and newer photos in a cool storage drawer system. I love it. I love having all these stories that come up from seeing photos together.
I never would have thought of this page otherwise.

Post for Auntie Julie

2010-03-21T11:49:00.000-07:00

Here is how the dresses looked from the front. And from the back. I could not believe how short it was on Kalli. Hope the shower went well today.

I love Library of Memories

2010-03-20T15:48:00.000-07:00

I am currently taking a class called Library of Memories by Stacy Julian. I love it.
I have read her book and sort of took the class before (did not do well actually following through with it). I had already moved my style into the concepts of having four main binders... Things We Do, Places We Go, All About Us, People We Love. I also have Sisters as a binder.

I bought new binders (which I love) and today I made my divider pages. Here is a picture of my main binder cover pages. I will add pictures as I get more sorted so I have a variety of ages in the cover page.

Here is a shot of my inside tabs. The papers match my binder color (well, not perfectly, but I am so over the need for scrapbooking perfection). I have them in the binders and am moving my pages in now. I LOVE IT.

I even have purchased a black binder for annual Halloween costume pictures and a red one for Annual Christmas Card and Santa photos. I have three 8 x 8 binders, too. For FAVORITE pictures of Kalli and Kaya and one for the annual Daddy Daughter Dance pictures. I got all the divider pages completed for ALL OF THEM today. GO me!

Laser Tag Rocks!

2010-03-13T18:57:00.000-08:00

We had a super fun time shooting each other in Indy a few weeks ago. As I was sorting photos of the Library of Memories Class I am taking, I put this one in the ones to make sure I posted.

This was such a fun trip!

Kaya signed up for Kindergarten...

2010-03-12T18:50:00.000-08:00

We will not know for four LONG weeks if we are lucky enough to get pulled in the full-day draw (which the stress of could kill me). But Kaya was sooooo excited to go thorugh the kindergarten testing and sign up to go to "Kalli's big school." which is what she calls the school she will hopefully attend next fall. She was a bit stunned today that she did not get to go with Kalli - that she still had to go to CFLC with me. I thought she would be sad leaving me next year.... NOT - she cannot wait to go with her big sister. Here are a few shots of her during the testing... I noticed I was the only psycho mom taking pictures.....
Of course, we took this as an opportunity to CELEBRATE with her friend Maya and took them out to Red Robin and Cold Stone, too!

Grateful for Today...

2010-03-11T18:49:00.000-08:00

OK, the day did not start out that awesome. I am stressed about work and the scale was TOTALLY not my friend. But, it ended up being one of those days you actually take a minute to thank God you got to live. As Kaya and I were leaving school, it was pouring rain in Crown Point. I called Matt to tell him we were on our way and he said Kal was so excited for Kaya to come home so they could play outside. I was surprised because it was POURING by my school. By the time we got home, it was raining at home, too. Instead of making them stay inside, I let them play and PLAY THEY DID. I took about 100 pictures of them just loving each other and really loving playing in the rain.

And, right before they came in for baths and dinner, the rain slowed and the sky above our house opened to show us a beautiful double rainbow. If I had not let them play outside... we totally would have missed it. I have always been sure that rainbows were a sign from heaven, and we got to see one tonight. And, I cannot WAIT to scrap these pictures. I felt lucky to be their mom and to be here watching them.

Library of Memories

2010-03-10T17:15:00.000-08:00

I am taking a class with Stacy Julian (who I love) and I finally ordered binders for my Library of Memories albums (I have used this system for years, but stored my pages in temporary binders.) They came today and I LOVE THEM! I got a lot extra and put them in the attic because I would just cry if they discontinued Sky Blue and I needed another Sky Blue album. I cannot wait to move my pages into them sometime this weekend. I love scrapbooking this way.

I wanted to end with a picture I love so much it almost makes me cry... this is a picture I get of Kaya because I am lucky enough to be her teacher this year in Pre-k.

Never seen snow....

2010-03-03T19:21:00.000-08:00

My children cannot imagine never having seen snow... but Cole (the son of my very best friend Shannon) had never seen it. So, they flew in this weekend to come to Kaya's party and for Cole to see snow. He loved it (well, he did not love the sledding, but that is a another story...). My girls loved seeing him see snow for the first time, and they helped him build a snowman. How I wished we lived where we never had to see snow.... I was so grateful they were here and I am so sad now that they are gone. It stinks living across the country from your best friend.

Happy 5th Birthday Kaya

2010-03-02T19:21:00.000-08:00

I have no clue how my baby turned 5. How that little bug who was only 10 months old when my Mom died could have turned 5 already. I think I tend to notice the little things and appreciate the day to day. I did project 365 last year and took over 14,000 photos. So, there cannot be much I missed, right? WRONG. She grew up right before my eyes. I just hope Mom can see her from Heaven. She would have loved this little one to pieces.

Kaya picked a jumping party (not my first choice) but it was a lot of fun. And I took a lot of pictures. Shannon was here and taught me to use actions on pictures.... which rocks. Here are just a few....

They sure love BARBIE

2010-02-17T20:13:00.000-08:00

My Mom hated Barbie. Kalli kept saying how she wishes my Mom was here to come to this with them "Because she would totally hate it and it would be sooooo fun to tease her!" I love that my kid knew how to tease my Mom so early in life. In fact, just a few days before my Mom died, Kalli decided that she had to get her a Barbie in a Blue dress for Christmas. (It is NOT easy to find the lover of all things pink - BARBIE - in a blue dress two days before Christmas, but we did, and it was the last gift Nana opened that day. She actually was buried with the doll in her casket because Kalli told me that it would make her crazy forever holding a Barbie doll!!) Anyway, they both LOVED the exhibit. I really wish my Mom could have been there with them. From walking the Barbie Catwalk to answering the phones... they enjoyed it all so much.

I love Children's Museums....

2010-02-16T20:07:00.000-08:00

There are soooo many incredible photo opportunities!
Here are just a few of the amazing photos I took:
Photos from the Barbie Exhibit coming soon...

Rock Climbing ROCKS!

2010-02-15T20:07:00.000-08:00

The girls and I had a great weekend visit with our Friends in Indy. We went to a fun children's museum, played laser tag AND went rock climbing. I took so many pictures... here are just a few of the climbing. More to follow later in the week....

I cannot even believe how high Kaya got!

Kalli made it all the way to the top! Both of them were incredible. I loved this place so much I wanted to open one locally! It was such a fun, healthy way to spend the day with family and friends. There is nothing like this close to us. I could not believe how BRAVE both of my little girls were. Kaya even flipped UPSIDE down on a release, and she got right back up and tried again. It was amazing to watch them.

My baby is turning 5

2010-02-07T08:22:00.000-08:00

How did that happen anyway? She is sooooo excited about her party. I wanted to do a funky art party at home, but she wanted to do a JUMPING party (not my favorite) so that is where we are going. Here is the picture I took this morning for her invitations. I love them. I cannot believe she is almost 5.

Our new art journals...

2010-01-30T19:46:00.000-08:00

Kalli had an amazing report card. In the spirit of trying to Eat Clean and stay healthy, I have tried to NOT give dinners out and ice cream as rewards... so, I offered her a chance to get an art supply of her choice. Happily she picked an Art Journal. We picked it out today and devoted some time to getting both of our Art Journals started. (I have had mine for a while... and never made time to start it). We made a HUGE mess in the kitchen while listening to great music and having a wonderful time.

I also got her a GREAT idea book called 1000 Artist Journal Pages.... she loved it. It was so much more fun than fattening old ice cream! :)

She is so artistic in her style. She has WAY more artistic courage than I do for sure. She painted RIGHT over this picture she had me take of her:

And on this one, she painted over her hair. Man, I was impressed by what she did. Hers were better than mine! She traced and cut out her hand for this one and used her ONE WORD of the year - she thought up her word all by herself. I cannot imagine this kid when she is 13. She amazes me daily at 7.
Here are my pages I did so far - I am learning about watercolor because I have never used it before. It is fun to use, and all of it is a bit messier than I like to be, but fun, too!!

I have a big learning curve when it comes to all the new mediums we have picked up lately... watercolors in tubes, pastels, watercolor pencils, and charcol pencils. All of it seems so much fun. And, it is WAYYYYY more fun having an art buddy to experiement with. While we were cleaning up for dinner, she said "Wow - that was so much fun. Good thing I got good grades, huh?"

Peace

2010-01-15T09:16:00.000-08:00

If you are a scrapbooker, you probably have heard of Ali Edwards. She is wonderful. She totally inspired me to get over my need to make it perfect and she made me realize the importance of capturing the little day to day things because those actaully matter more than all the big things. Well, she does a thing called ONE WORD and I have done it for the past few years. My first WORD was SIMPLIFY (it did not work that well that year) and my word for 2009 was JOY and it rocked. It rocked because I got a JOY necklace that reminded me all the time to find JOY in our lives. In the little things - not just the big things that we cannot afford right now. I did project 365 and found total JOY in capturing our happy little lives day-by-day last year. So, my word for this year is:
PEACE

And, I love it. I love it because PEACE makes me happy and it makes me feel JOY. I love it because focusing on PEACE will help me simplify. It will help me think about the bigger picture. I also love the word PEACE because both girls LOVE the peace sign and have hats and bags and shirts with it (so I will see it daily and be reminded of my word).

I also love it because the PEACE sign is often found in my photographs. Of the girls, our friends from other countries, and myself. It just is in our nature to flash a PEACE sign in pictures. So, I should be able to have a nice focus on my ONE WORD because I am surrounded by it daily.

And, I hope for PEACE in our home (meaning work with my brother Matt to continue organizing things), PEACE in my work (meaning PLAN AHEAD and stay ahead to allow for more PEACEFUL evenings), PEACE in my relationships (accept people as they are and accept what life has handed us), and PEACE in my fitness plan (stop worrying and enjoy the continuous journey toward better health).

So, from me to anyone reading this... I wish you PEACE in 2010 and I challenge you to stop by Ali's blog and read up on the ONE WORD concept. Pick a word. It just might help you focus on something you have been meaning to..... Just one little word. :)

No More Tonsils for Kalli!

2010-01-12T12:09:00.000-08:00

Ok, this post is NOT for the faint of heart. It has one rather nasty picture that I happen to love, but others might not be so impressed!! So, before you scroll.... BEWARE! :)

Kal got her tonsils out today - she did so well. She is such a cool, tough kid. We are home, and she is eating popsicles and resting. I am about to get her down for a nap, but I wanted to post a couple pictures so you can see how simply cool she is....

Papa Vern came to bring a surprise and check on his grandbaby!

Right after she woke up - the nurses could not beleive how calm and happy she was the entire time.

Kal and her super nice doctor.

The first of MANY popsicles. :)

She was so excited to go home!

NOW - do not look at what comes next if you have a weak belly... these are her tonsils! YEP - I asked the doctor to take a picture for me, and THEY DID! I know, it is gross, but you have to admit - it still is pretty cool, too. She is doing well and hopefully the chronic strep that never goes away will stop soon!

Happy 2010!

2009-12-31T21:16:00.000-08:00

I hope you have a safe and blessed new year.

This is the final picture for my Project 365 book. I am so proud to have taken and printed one photo per day for this entire past year. I journaled a bit every single day, too. What an amazing memory for my girls.

Locks for Love

2009-12-20T17:11:00.000-08:00

It sure has been a long time since I posted... sorry to the few kind people who still ready my little blog!
I have a bunch of pictures from the last few months to post... but I had to post this so I could get my dad and my sister to see what my girls did this weekend.

Two years ago, Kalli decided on her own to donate her hair to locks-for-love. She had heard about it and asked me if her hair was long enough. It was, so she had it chopped short and donated to a child in need of a wig because of cancer treatments. Well, about two weeks ago, she said her hair was long enough and she wanted to do it again. Her sister (who would do ANYTHING to be just like Kalli) said she wanted to do it, too. And, on Saturday, they did.

It was hard for me to watch them cut off the hair that I love to much - but man, how lucky am I to be a mom to children who want to make sure sick kids have hair. I always feel grateful and blessed to be their mom - but on Saturday, I felt amazed by them both.

Here are some other shots from the cutting.... they were both so happy and had a great time.

Pumpkin Carving Has Started

2009-10-31T19:09:00.000-07:00

My husband is a crazy good pumpkin carver. There are really only a couple days a year he gets to use those skills!! Last night was one of them. The kids LOVE cleaning them out. He is a great carver and I love making the seeds. So, it all works out. Pumpkin carving nights (we usually do 6 or so, so it takes us a couple of nights) are two of my favorite days of the year. Here are some photos from night one....

Here are the first two.... (I had issues with this post - we now have six incredible pumpkins that I will show you later).

WOW - my mac is working again...

2009-10-28T17:21:00.000-07:00

Hi. I have no clue if anyone reads this anymore, but here are a few photos from today and the past few days.... we went to OHIO to a bears game this weekend and hit Kings Island Amusement Park as well.

The girls LOVE having their faces painted.

We took Kim with us - she is an awesome exchange student from Germany. I wish she lived with us. The girls LOVE her and she fit right in with us.

Kaya and Kalli loved the special Hallow Fest they had at Kings Island.

We are all stunned at how good Kal looks in underwater photos.... I lost my little camera at the movies :( and got another one so we can shoot like crazy again. I love this underwater little camera. So much fun.

There is my little family at the bears game (before it started so we were all VERY happy). The Bears played HORRIBLY and we left to start the long drive home in the middle of the 3rd quarter. I do love our long standing family tradition of one away Bears game every year. I hope it continues.

Here is all of us at the game.

Kal made friends with a wild Bengals fan.

Kaya and her new best friend Kim.

Kalli had her Halloween party at school today, and I was lucky to be picked to go. I love Halloween. In fact, they are about to carve pumpkins so I better go take more pictures. :)

first day of school

2009-08-19T23:15:00.000-07:00

I have not posted in forever, but these photos had to go up tonight before I went to sleep. Kalli started her first day of school today... and, MAN, she looks fantastic. Way too grown up to be only 7. She has more style and confidence and inner and outer beauty that most people have in a lifetime. Her first day was fantastic, and it is going to be an incredible year. Kaya starts on Monday.... so more photos will follow I am sure.

This is how I left her.... looking happy as could be in her new desk in her new class with her new teacher. I cried on my way to school. Cried because I am so lucky to be her mom. Because I hope I am not missing the little things and that time would slow down a little. And I cried because I will miss her all day every day. She is such a great kid.

Then, after school, we did our traditional FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL trip to Cold Stone, and she showed me she is very much still my little girl who simply cannot eat ice cream without it getting all over her face. I think she looks like a scary pumpkin with those missing teeth. Man, I am lucky to be her mom.

New Friends and Happy Memories

2009-07-26T19:50:00.000-07:00

We were lucky this weekend to host 4 students from China in our home on Saturday. It was a lot of fun, and the girls LOVED meeting new people. I love our girls being raised to understand that the world is much bigger than just the United States and to see that we are much more similar to people than we are different. I sent all of our guests home with a photo box full of pictures I had taken throughout the day. I love the power of photos to make a memory last forever. And I love my Mini Printer. :)

Here is a great photo of our little family on the boat. It was VERY windy and we forgot our ponytail holders....

And I love both of these pictures of the girls. I feel like they both look TOO OLD in these photos. Kaya has been ALL OVER the sideways hat lately and it just cracks me up. I feel like the luckiest girl on earth because I get to be their mom.

Next Saturday we are going to the airport to greet KIM - our Rotary exchange student from Germany. We hope she is able to stay with us in our home for a few months... I know it would be amazing for all of us.

Happy 61st Birthday Mom!

2009-07-23T21:34:00.000-07:00

Today my mom would have turned 61. We sent her balloons to heaven with Busia and the grandchildren. I was glad the children surrounded Busia today to keep her from being absorbed by her sadness.

We tie-dyed and finished up lots of other projects. We had my niece and nephew for the past 7 days. I have a whole new respect for people with four kids. Whew - I am tired.

Here are the albums we sent them home with.... over 400 pictures in just one week. Not bad.

And, I know this last image is sideways, but I am having computer issues and cannot get the program open to flip it. I just wanted you to see how I simply stuck in the photos. I had the grand idea of writing note on the side lines... but I was lucky to get this done to this point and was still printing and sticking in all the photos from today as my sister was packing up her kids in the car. I loved sending her home with all of these memories organized and in one place for her kids to have forever.

I love Books (another two page spread)

2009-07-14T19:47:00.000-07:00

The class asked me to talk about books... Man, I love books. Doing this layout made me want to run to borders just to look around. Too Bad Neil is out of town. :( I think my girls will grow up loving books, too. I love that this class has helped me put all this on paper.

Make Something Monday

2009-07-13T20:48:00.000-07:00

This is the two page spread I made today. Again, it is SIMPLE, but it is DONE and ready to go into the page protectors and that makes me happy.

If you took the time to make something (even just took 5 minutes to write notes about a family member, yourself or a memory....) you would have 250 little somethings in 5 years. That is a very big deal.

Do not clean your space (just push stuff out of the way if you have to). Do not spend any money (we know we all have enough stuff). Do not surf on line for ideas (how much time do we all waste surfing for ideas or scrapbooking supplies and then we never even use them). Just pair a photo with a memory this week.

YOU CAN DO IT! I know you can. Happy Scrapping!

Three more pages on people I LOVE!

2009-07-12T20:11:00.000-07:00

How cool is it to make a page telling someone you love just how much you love them. Ahhhhh, it makes my heart feel happy. Do you realize the importance of that page one day?I mean, in the day to day business of life, that one page might not seem to matter.... but one day, it will become a cherished memory. I am 100% certain that you making the time to make a simple page about how much you love someone will mean the world to them either tomorrow or 10 years down the road. Here are the three I made today... one for each girl, and one for Busia. All of them super simple, all of them DONE! That is the best part. Putting them into the book and shutting it. Then, opening it back up and reading it again. And sometimes again, and again and again. :) I know they are all really simple, but that never makes them any less meaningful. Tomorrow is Make Something Monday.... can you make something meaningful for someone?

Playing in the rain...

2009-07-12T18:11:00.000-07:00

My class assignment was to outline my parenting style... It was interesting to think about and I loved putting my thoughts about how I parent on paper. I really really wish I could go back in time and do a book like this about my mom. It would be so neat to ask her questions and document her answers. I love how I scrap now... it is simple and easy and I get stuff DONE. I am happy that way. I love that if anything ever happens to me, Kalli and Kaya will have my words in print to read and hug and keep forever.

Another Two Pages

2009-07-11T10:06:00.001-07:00

I have made 13 pages in the past 18 hours. HOLY MOLY! That is the most I have made ever unless I have been at Sherrie's Cropping or she and Shannon have been here for the weekend scrapbooking. I LOVE SCRAPBOOKING.

This page is about my views on HEALTH for my This Is Me class I am blessed to have talked myself into late. :)

12 years ago today....

2009-07-11T08:46:00.000-07:00

I was getting my hair done for my wedding to Neil. Sometimes it seems like just the other day, and other times it seems like it was some other life.

I made him this page instead of a card. I let him read it and took it RIGHT BACK to put into my This Is Me album I am working on.

I love scrapbooking!

2009-07-10T23:41:00.000-07:00

There is something about capturing memories for our family that actually makes my heart feel happy. I love knowing that these layouts I did tonight can never be taken away. That these stories are captures and these memories secure. Ahhhh, I love that feeling.

I did the title page and all four divider pages for my This Is Me class I am taking. Now, I feel like I can make any page I am directed to make and it has a home. I am waiting for a tab punch I got at JoAnns.com for 40% off to come, and I will tab these pages. These were down and dirty and quick and easy, and that totally works for me. I am not in this to win awards, I am in this to put our stories down on paper. I love pairing photos with memories and telling stories. This is such a meaningful hobby and I am grateful I know how to do it.

My Life

My Loves

My work

My World

These came out exactly like I pictured them in my head. I love when that happens.

I am taking a class!

2009-07-09T21:50:00.000-07:00

And I am super excited about it. I am late at registering (figures) and I hate to be late... but I will catch up eventually. I am not sure why, but I read about it, and felt like I needed to do this for my family. I have not made much time to scrap lately at all, and it makes me sad. I want my girls to know my story should anything ever happen to me, and I think this class (this is me) will be an incredible book for the girls to have one day. I cannot even imagine what I would give to have this of my Mom when she had us kids.

Before I even could enter the class... I set up by binder.... just did the little window and the spine, but it is a start, right???

Missing FRONT tooth and gymnastics....

2009-07-08T20:02:00.000-07:00

Man, Kalli is growing up way too fast. I tell her to slow down ALL THE TIME, and she ignores me. Even my husband pushes her ahead into being a big kid. He simply cannot stop pulling out her teeth! As soon as he sees a wiggle, he starts working it with her until together they can yank it out. Ugh. I run away from them because I simply cannot stand to watch him pull at her little teeth. They got out one of the front ones this week and they loved teasing me about it. Even Kaya was teasing me that Daddy was pulling out her teeth.

I love this shot of my little PUMKIN HEAD! (with all those missing teeth she keeps saying "Hey, I look like a pumpkin!")

I let each kid pick one summer camp, and Kalli picked Gymnastics. She has loved it. She did it years ago, and is enjoying it a lot. I think she looks the part.... her long legs, lean torso, the ponytail.... she really has it going on out there. Wish there was better light to take photos (from the balcony where we sit to watch), but these are the best I could do.

Such a gymnast pose!

Cannot complete the post without a photo of Kaya enjoying herself at her Kids Camp at the park. She loves it and the love her. I love this face.

We love sunshine!

2009-07-08T06:27:00.000-07:00

Since our 4th of July Day plans got totally cancelled.... we went swimming and boating at Dad's condo the next day instead. It was a lot of fun. I love water. It just feels peaceful to me. Only took the little camera that day so these are the best shots I got. It was nice to just have fun and not worry about the big camera for a day! And, I still got some great shots.

You can see my Dad's condo behind the kids. This was my 365 photo for this day. Loved this shot.

Self portraits with Mommy on the moving boat!

I love how happy they all look in this photo. No clue what the wonky coloring around Neil's face is.... I get that with this little point and shoot sometimes. But, it was worth it to relax and enjoy the day more.... sometimes I get WAYYYY too focused on getting good pictures. Yeah, I could have done better, but I can totally live with these! :)

Make Something Monday

2009-07-06T19:55:00.000-07:00

I uploaded and ordered photos.... it is all I could do today, and in my book, IT COUNTS! :)
I am reading Stacy Julian's Photo Freedom book, and she even says that labeling photos, ordering them, organizing them, etc counts as scrapbooking.... so for this Monday, this counts for me!

Here are a few of the photos I uploaded and ordered enlargements of. I feel so lucky every day to have these two little buggers call me MOM!

I even love simply watching (and taking pictures of course) of this child eating.

Here are the girls all lined up for the parade. It rained on us, but did not get rained out! (Good thing Neil kept working on those bike decorations)

Here they are in the parade...

Here is one of Kaya with Mommy and Daddy with Kalli. Right before the parade (and the rain) started. How lucky am I to have this as my super cute little family??

Every year I take a photo of Kaya from the BACK in the bike parade. I need to gather them together and create a page. She was TOTALLY last in the parade last year.... slowly pedaling away and chatting with the police man bringing up the rear. This year, she kept saying "There are people still behind me, right? I not last this year." Man, she cracks me up. And, for the record, she went FAST this year and I had to run to keep up with her. Next year I need to take my bike! :)

Busia always comes to the Parade and cheers on her girls. Man, she is amazing. In the rain at 85 years old, she never missed one thing these children do. I mean, really, how darn lucky are we to live with this bundle of love? She loves this parade and had no problems getting wet by the end. We sure to love Busia.

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-03T20:27:00.000-07:00

I often wonder how I got lucky enough to be born to my parents in this wonderful country. If that wasn't enough, I got to give birth to these two amazing (and crazy) children.

And I got to marry a guy who is really a great dad. He spent the evening decorating bikes for the girls for the neighborhood parade (even though it is almost certainly going to get rained out). He also cleaned out the garage today and moved all my Once Upon a Family stuff I no longer need immediate access to into our attic. And I get to take pictures like this. I love this shot.

Happy Independence Day from the Sikora-Blankenships.

Endings and Beginnings....

2009-06-30T03:01:00.000-07:00

Everything changes and I am trying hard to learn to accept that. It is a struggle for me. Even good change (like the girls getting taller, losing teeth, etc) is hard for me to accept. I have loved the girls more at every single age, but I still long for the way they used to be. Maybe that is why I scrapbook - to try to make sure I never forget how it is exactly RIGHT NOW. Never thought about it like that, but I bet that has a lot to do with it.

OK, things ending..... Today (June 30th) is it. The very last day to place a Once Upon A Family order. Go here to order anything you want to have. After today, I can no longer place an order for you. And that makes me sad. I never made much money on OUAF, but I loved it. I loved their products and what they could mean to people..... anyway, everything they make is 40% off for one last day. If you want the Wrought Iron Tree, there is no direct link to it.... so go HERE and at the top, select PRODUCTS and then select any catergory. In the left column there should be a SEARCH bar at the bottom. Type the word "tree" there and hit enter. Go to page two and it will be the last item you see listed. People have struggled with this and I have to work today, so I will not be around to talk you through it. Be patient, and you will find it on the site and be able to add it to your cart.... sorry for the trouble - this is the item I made people want most, and it is not an easy item to order.... but, it is only $21 with the 40% off discount, and it will make an incredible gift for someone! :)

OK, things starting. Tonight was the first night Busia (my Mom's 85 year old Mom) spent the night in her new room in our home. It will be a transition for all of us, but it is time, we are all ready, and it is a blessing for each one of us in its own way. In fact, tonight, the ever amazing Kalli choose to spend the night in my old room with her great grandma. She was so cool about it that it made me cry. How blessed are the girls to get to be around someone filled with SO MUCH love for them. I am transitioning our stuff (why do we all have so much stuff anyway?) to Dad's old room in the basement. It is a very nice space. A lot smaller than I had, which is encouraging me to purge (which is a very good thing). Moving is just hard. I loved our room. I need to get my dad to come over to hang up all my photos of the girls, then I know I will love our new space, too. And, I feel lucky to have the space to have Busia here with us. I pray she does OK with the transition. I love that lady.

Here are a couple photos of how I have quickly organized her new space as of today.... lots of work still left to do, but this is a good place to start, and I think she will be comfortable until I get her more settled...

An old thing I stopped hopefully starting again.....
I have been a lame blogger and an even lamer scrapbooker (is lamer even a word?). I used to do something called Make Something Monday and I loved it. I loved having one time each week where I made SOMETHING. Printed or uploaded photos, created one journal entry or finished one page. I have been asked to start this again, and I am going to try. I have a better shot this summer while I am not teaching.... so here it goes... starting NEXT MONDAY, I am going to post SOMETHING I made. I am going to try to encourage some of you to do the same..... we can do this. We can make things that matter. There is truly enough time in our lives to create simple, meaningful memories.... we just have to prioritize and DO IT. If you want to encourage yourself to remember to MAKE SOMETHING check out Shannon's new MAKE SOMETHING stuff on Cafe Press. Carrying this will remind me to just make something. Never make it harder than it needs to be, just think about a memory you desire to never forget, and get it on paper! Enjoy the process.

I am ending this super long post with a photo Kalli made me take today because Uncle Matt ran to Target and did not get to see all the candy dots she had in her mouth at one time.

She made me take a picture so she would be able to show him when she got back. I love being a mom to funky kids. I love every bit of it. :)

40% off all Once Upon A Family Products

2009-06-22T21:01:00.000-07:00

Once Upon A Family is closing its doors to consultant sales as of June 30th! They did not give us much notice... but, they are offering 40% off of anything they have so you can complete your kits, get what you have wanted for your family, and stock up on a few meaningful gifts.

I loved their items once I saw the Dear Sweet Letter Box. I got one for each of my daughters and became a consultant. I never did many parties, but the parties I did do were a lot of fun, and I think people picked up some great, meaningful items.

Anway, this is it - your last shot. So if you have been waiting to get anything, now is the time before it is gone for good. Plus, at 40% off, you can check a few Christmas gifts off your list!

Here are a few of my favorites:
Dear Sweet Child Letter Box

Handprint Book

Birthday Book

Wrought Iron Tree (this link to the OUAF cart for this item never worked for me, but you can link to some cool trees I have made with this item)

They have a lot of other very cool items like Lessons for Little Ones, Keys, Cool Silk Albums and so much more. Browse the site if you get a chance. These will all be gone in just a few days. I hate when things I love end. Anyone who reads this knows I hate change of any kind. It is sad that a company with these strong of products could not make it.

Speaking of change... in a few days, my beautiful (and crazy) 85 year old grandmother moves in with us. It surely will never be boring!

I love Bingo

2009-06-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

I totally stole this idea from Stacy Julian's blog and I LOVE IT ALREADY!
It was quick and easy to alter her templates she kindly provided to make this work for our family.
The girls are excited and I am totally excited, too.
Go Summer!

I have had a lot of issues posting and I think I finally might have found a way around the issues. For any of you still reading this thank you for checking in still. I hope to post more this summer. And, I will post again later with info and links... but Once Upon A Family is longer going to be in business as of June 30th so if you have anything you wanted to get from me... be sure to order soon off my website before the products are gone forever.... more on that later. OH YEAH - every awesome thing they make is 40% off! Get what you have always wanted now before it is too late.

Have to do some Father's Day fun stuff. Oh, I will post the pages we made him sometimes soon. Go visit Stacy and make BINGO cards for your kids if you have them. :)

Happiness is storage bins....

2009-05-25T16:25:00.001-07:00

bins
Originally uploaded by klsb

all lined up in a row. I am not kidding. It makes me so happy to see these when I open the pantry. I have more on order because I bought ALL OF THEM from all three area Targets (they were on clearance). Air tight and leak proof AND see through. I LOVE IT! Most of this is our new CLEAN EATING stuff, and it actually all tastes pretty good overall!

Target Baskets

2009-05-25T16:23:00.001-07:00

P5160283
Originally uploaded by klsb

I love these target stacking baskets. I have them all over my pantry. I even found more of the medium ones today and completed the top shelf in my pantry. Notice the Almond Butter... YUM! This stuff rocks and is so much better for you than peanut butter. :)

Eating Clean Cooler Food

2009-05-25T16:22:00.001-07:00

P5160280
Originally uploaded by klsb

In honor of trying my very best to EAT CLEAN, I have a spot in the fridge to place packaged protein and complex carb combos so I can just grab them and go in the morning. I love this. I just packed up tonights leftovers into portioned packs for the next couple of days. I lable them with the number of WW points and the number of protein grams so I can stay on track. :)

Yep, I did the Fridge, too.

2009-05-25T16:20:00.001-07:00

P5160272
Originally uploaded by klsb

OK, this might be a bit too far, but I love it. I cleaned up our fridge and labeled it all by catergory. I love it. It makes me happy to open it. My husband thinks I am insane, but it has been over a week, and it still looks like this. :)

Saving the packaging...

2009-05-25T16:19:00.001-07:00

P5160270
Originally uploaded by klsb

This is how I cut out and save the nutritional info and the directions for items I will use over and over.... I simply cut them out of the packaging and tape them to their storage container. I love how all of these containers stack. I love not having a mess of sizes and types of packaging.

Love the spice stair stepper....

2009-05-25T16:15:00.001-07:00

P5160265
Originally uploaded by klsb

This really makes a difference because now I can see what I have. Found this at Target.

Left Side of the pantry....

2009-05-25T16:14:00.001-07:00

P5160264
Originally uploaded by klsb

Here you can see some snack containers (I love to repackage things so they stay fresh... Neil is NOT a fan of this system).

A clean pantry makes me SOOOOO happy!

2009-05-25T16:13:00.000-07:00

I HAVE HAD THIS READY TO POST FOR A WEEK, and blogger no longer accepts my photos. I have no clue why... anyway, I was told to get a flickr account and try to post that way... so we will see if this works.... I hope you can see my clean pantry!

------------------------------------------------------
OK, my friend just came over and said this is a sign that I have a problem....
I happen to think it is a good problem.

I am reading the book The Eat Clean Diet and I love it. I have learned more about food and what my family should be eating in the last week than I have learned in a lifetime of stressing about weight and food!! It is well written and very inspiring to me because it will not be easy, but I am going to clean up our eating. I want to be a strong example for the girls so they learn this stuff NOW and they can not have to worry like I have over the years.

So... onto the pantry. We are blessed with a big pantry. It started organized and was not horrible, but it has lost its true sense of order, and we simply had too much crap in it. I took EVERY SINGLE THING out yesterday. It felt GREAT to get it all out. Then, today, I got some organizers from Target, and I put everything we kept (and lots of new, much CLEANER foods) back in. I love it. I kind of want to sleep in there on a cot if I could fit! :)

And, earlier in the week, I attacked the fridge and freezer, too. I got new storage containers that all work together and that you can see through because we will become MUCH better at using leftovers to ensure that we get protein in between meals.... anyway, here are some fridge shots.

If you have struggled with weight or health issues... it might be good for you to look at this book. I finished the EAT CLEAN book and just got (used on Amazon for only $2.00) the Eat Clean for Families and Kids. I love it, too. I have the EAT CLEAN COOKBOOK coming soon. (also used from Amazon for $2.00). Even if I fail miserably at Clean Eating... I have a nice looking fridge and pantry due to my efforts! :)

Hope you all had a productive Saturday. :)