just a few valentine images and a layout i just finished. hope everyone had a great V-day! i made homemade individual pizza's in the shape of a heart, chocolate dipped pretzels and my girls got little buckets filled with treats. david got a dvd and a truth or dare game and i got a cute heart charm for my bracelet. love to all...L

i finally finished a layout! yay for me. i even broke out the glitter. if ever there was a girl made for glitter it was carson. such a sweet girlie girl. she definitely inherited her love of shopping and clothes from her mama. she can do everyone's hair and will tell you if your outfit is lacking something. she would dress the entire family if you let her. she's always a big help to me with the little girls and plays school with them and reads books to them. a real sweetheart. she reminds me of brianne when she was little. doesn't get mad often and if she does she gets over it quick. she has tons of friends and is a social butterfly (not like her mama!). she can doodle and do fancy handwriting and is great at art. she loves to make scrapbook pages and recently made one and sent it to her aunt in CA. glad to have her as my daughter...L

GO COLTS! well, i was excited that they won because that is who my son wanted to win. not too excited about the commercials. they kinda sucked. but we had a nice party with lots of friends and kids. even shanna and shane and their girls came up. it's funny because we have a family with mostly all girls and so do my friends--everyone seems to have girls--especially the ones that came over last night. but one couple have 2 boys and we noticed a huge difference in the decibal range when they came. they had a great time chasing the girls and i would love to say it was shanna's girls that were throwing panties at them but alas, it was my girls! after the boys left though anna came up to me and said "those boys gave me a headache" then shanna piped up and said "get used to it" and i said "for a long, long time!" ha ha

another funny thing. david was watching some show last night and they were talking about the differences between men and women. i was in on the computer but i could hear what was being said. the narrator was saying that after sex men want to go to sleep and women want to cuddle. the narrator said that men should take at least 5 minutes with their woman to hug her, tell her she's beautiful, talk to her, yada, yada, yada. I'm in here yelling to david "women really want that? are you kidding me? i just want to go to sleep!" david's response? "you really are a man!" that's what i've been saying all along...L

aren't they cute? they are coming down for the easter pageant in mesa in march!! woo hoo
david--you can't get mad at this picture because there is no kissy face going on!!!

speaking of the easter pageant--i saw the movie "the passion of the Christ" a few nights ago. didn't see it when it came out because i don't like bloody, violent, gory movies. david saw it and said it was good. then i forgot all about it. so when it came on one night david asked me to sit down and watch it. i told him that i was pretty sure it would be too much for me but he said to give it a chance and if it got to be too intense then i could stop watching. so i watched it. the entire movie. it was intense. it was also an insight into how horrible that last day of his life really was. what got me though was Mary watching Jesus the whole time. being there for her son in the most painful time i can imagine. i have a son and i can't imagine having to witness that. then i had a few thoughts. the first being that i can just imagine myself finally face to face with the Savior and trying to explain why i yelled at someone one day, or why i complained about insignificant things. when you know full well at what He endured and how he reacted to things. the second was when they showed his sermon on the mount and him teaching to love your enemies because "if you love those that love you where is the reward in that?" so true. so easy to love those that are kind and sweet and loving to us. but what about the person that has betrayed us or let us down or hurt us in some manner. that is the truly hard part.

so i emailed my son about my feelings and told him that if we just focused on Christ that all would be ok. here is the email he sent me:

Hey thanks for the letter. Hope that everyone gets better soon. Its soooo true if we can just focus on Christ everything will be fine. We won't be discouraged we will be more loving, everything will turn to us for our good--the trials, problems. with Christ all if possible with out him there's nothing. " Look unto me in all thy thoughts. doubt not; fear not." d&c 6

love you Anziano Gilbert

p.s. the colts

wow--that was probably the most serious post i have ever had! ha

oh yeah--i asked him in my email who he wanted me to root for in the superbowl. sorry beffy

and yeah--that boy is coming home in 3 months!!!!

on a lighter note i have been eating grapenuts trail mix every night for a snack. thanks brianne! she told me to get it since i am a grapenuts nut! i usually eat it with soy milk so i don't feel too guilty.

and while i am in a random posting mood i will let you know that i dropped my college classes today. i had signed up for photoshop 2 and digital photography 2 but i just wasn't feeling motivated. plus brianne graduates from BYU in april and dallas gets home in may so i knew i would probably be gone and missing class so i will just wait til fall semester and keep practicing and learning more camera stuff and photoshop on my own.

peace out...L

i worked on this layout last night. funny thing is that most of this stuff was lying around on my scrap table and i just started putting it all together. i have to admit i don't scrap tons of pics of me. usually i am the one behind the camera. then i thought it's a little vain to scrap yourself. then i thought that one day i won't be here on this earth and wouldn't my kids love to look through the albums and remember what their mom looked like. or even my future (better be sooner than later!) grandkids who want to know what grandma looked like before it all went south. so instead of feeling vain or stupid i really just had fun with this layout. i used some more stuff from gloria's scrap gift, chatterbox, 7gypsies, k&co chipboard, stamps, random letters, etc. i almost didn't put the little "confidence is beautiful" label on there but you know what--at 44 years of age if you can't feel confident or beautiful you never will. glad to enjoy the stage of life i am in right now. i like it. that saying about older and wiser? it's so right on...L

finished this layout today. this picture of haley at school almost didn't get scrapped. her teachers sent it home to me TAPED to a card. non scrappers i am sure. so i couldn't get the tape off and just decided to put it in my photo album. yesterday afternoon as i looked through the album i just couldn't let it sit there. so i pulled it out and voila--got the tape off. last week i also got this wonderful package in the mail from gloria filled with all kinds of goodies. vintage labels, fabric, receipts, antique ephemera. loved it. i love the whole vintage, junqued up scrap pages i see. not that I (that i is for you kerry!) can do it but i still love that style. so i did my own vintage version--yeah, it's not remarkable but i kinda like it.

on another note i have had a sick little girl--the one you see above. cried herself to sleep last night in my arms. poor baby. she cannot shake this cold. i haven't felt that great myself--worn out, tired, un-freakin'-motivated for sure. but there have been a few highlights.

haley pointing out a "hankaroo" in the animal book

sitting as a family and watching old reruns of "flipper" and having haley asking every second if flipper was going to save everyone

david rescuing me from the house today and treating me to lunch

david making dinner--rice and potstickers. yum.

carson and taylor cleaning up, putting away laundry and watching haley so i could get out

finishing my layout (oh--inspired by shanna's friday challenge!)

wishing everyone out there an early Happy Sabbath!! hope it is delightful...L

this was some birthday fun! first--macadamia nut pancakes from the lovely husband on a special birthday plate and cup. then a nice hot soak in the tub. snow. some funny post-it notes all over my powder room with the most hilarious sayings courtesy of my scrap friends. my layout i did for the swap with above mentioned friends--an early Valentine for david. david took me to lunch and then bought me a brian andreas print and a cute thermal t with "kiss me" on it, then that night we all went to dinner and had chocolate bread pudding for dessert. yum! then on saturday all my scrap friends came up and spent the day and it was so much fun! they stuck up post it notes all over the bathroom that said things like "real men don't wear lipgloss" in reference to Lukas, "it's not a war on fuel", "republicans in '08" "bloody hell", "shalom", "official tat biotch" and a few happy birthdays! i seriously was cracking up over all of them--you guys are da bomb diggity! so a nice birthday weekend. and to top it off it snowed again saturday night and above are some pics. david took them sledding down the driveway and the street in front of our house. they had a blast...L

happy (early) birthday to me. i got two presents--the one above is one that i treated myself to while dave and the girls were in Utah. it is a japanese kanji symbol that means "love." i wanted something that would symbolize everything special to me--my husband, my children, family,the things i love in life--the fact that i love life itself. i have wanted a tattoo for as long as i can remember. the only thing that stopped me was let's see--needles and pain. two things i don't really like. but when i finally decided to go through with it it was actually a very calming thing. the tattoo literally took like 10 minutes. totally painless. i was so excited when i got it that i literally had to stop myself from going back to get another one. anyway--i have it and i totally love it as do my husband and children.

speaking of which they gave me my present tonight as well--our family is not big on waiting!! ha ha everyone, including me, was excited to open it. a totally cute bag from one of my favorite stores up here--lavender's blue. inside was a beautiful pandora bracelet and it had 5 charms on it--everyone had picked a charm to put on the bracelet. taylor picked one that had a sun, moon and stars, carson got me one that had a gold heart and the words i love you, anna picked oval purple stones, haley picked a flower with a diamond in it and david got me a "queen bee" complete with a gold crown. real funny. you can see what they look like here.

and another treat--my scrapping friends are coming up saturday to scrap with me. i can hardly wait...L

ps--above photo courtesy of shanna!

look how cute they are!!! that is brianne and her boyfriend jeff. wouldn' they make cute babies together? and from these pictures it looks like my baby is trying fo sure!!! see--brianne always says she's not like me and wishes she could be more like me--but look at that last picture--see--she is my baby, just like her momma. plus she emailed me a funny story that i am sharing. in her own words--"you're my favorite! so in church yesterday i start singing the closing hymn opera style to my roomate and after the hymn she tells me i'm going to hades. so i start laughing but am trying to hold it in and of course let out the loudest snort of my life in the silence just before the prayer. yeah me and five girls were laughing the entire prayer with our heads in our arms to avoid from making more sound. i'm a nerd!!!"

ha ha--i thought that story was funny! yeah, shanna--brianne is a snorter too. so is anna! it's hilarious. i guess her boyfriend has a goal to make her snort like once a day and she let me read a funny email that he wrote her that said "you know the best part of waking up is not folgers in your cup but knowing that chuck norris didn't kill you in your sleep!" now that is funny!!! so i didn't have permission to use any of these stories or pictures but if you are gullible enough to send these to me then i am going to use them!! HA HA oh yeah--when i showed david this picture of brianne and jeff with her licking him brianne actually bit me!!! geez, where's the love tongue girl?

and by the way--today is a year that i have been blogging!! YAY for me...L

the above picture was taken saturday night at the PBR--that's the lingo for the Professional Bull Riders! our friends had a suite at the PV arena and gave us tickets. i grew up watching this kind of stuff and going to the rodeo all the time but haven't gone to one in a long time except for last year in Vegas. it was fun--not something i want to do every weekend but i love seeing and doing things that are different for me. the best part was the "dance-off" in the middle of the rodeo. quite funny!

the next picture is of my latest layout and sweet find at an antique store. i have always loved Kerry's holder that she puts her latest layouts on in her scraproom and one of my latest obsessions is going to all the lovely and abundant antique shops around prescott. i picked this one up last week and absolutely love it! it sits on a table in my great room and has this layout on it at the moment.

the girls came home from school last week and asked a lot of questions about martin luther king. so we had a good discussion about why he was important and why we celebrate him. afterwards anna asked me if i knew she didn't have to go to school monday because it was "king arthur's" holiday. nice.

but to make up for anna's lack of political correctness i must tell you the most incredible thing that took place at my house last night. carson had a few friends come over and spend the night since there was no school today and late last night they had all their pillows and blankets sprawled out on the floor and were talking. i was on the computer and could hear them but wasn't paying that much attention until i heard the words, global warming, Bush, ozone hole, iraq and the discussion of bush sending more troops over when really this war just needs to end and what the real war is about--fuel, and how long it would take us to repair the hole in the ozone, yada, yada, yada. OK--these girls are 10 years old. they were discussing politics! later even taylor made the comment of how funny it was that they were talking about politics. i was amazed and elated at the same time. i hope this continues. i hope my girls keep reading and discussing and vote when they are old enough. i have a dream...L

Anna: mom, i want a haircut.

Me: how do you want it cut?

Anna: i want it curly.

so here is anna with her "curly" hair cut with a little help from momma and some soft rollers. and she was so happy--she must have asked me at least 5 times on the way to school this morning if it was still curly. here's wishing all of you in blogland a good hair day...L

so these are the layouts i worked on this week while i had some time. i'm pretty happy with them. most of them are scraplifts--the first one of brianne is a karen russell scraplift--love her work. the second one is actually my own work--ha ha, the third one is a candace cook lift from SE website, the fourth one is a lift from the SE website--don't remember who did it and the last one is my version of the friday challenge over at shanna's blog. happy sabbath...L

my family is coming home tomorrow. besides the complete emotional breakdown i had about 5 hours after they had left i have been fine. more than fine actually. i have thoroughly enjoyed my time alone. i still miss them and can't wait for them to get here but i have been productive and lazy at the same time and had fun.

being alone is a funny thing. i like it--i am definitely not one of those chicks that has to be with someone constantly--you know--can't go to the bathroom alone, can't go shopping, out to eat or to a movie by themselves. i can do all those things completely happy by my lonesome. not to say that i don't enjoy doing them with other people, but if other people are tied up or busy i can do it by myself.

funny thing is when you're alone for very long it forces you to take a good look at yourself and evaluate yourself and assess how you are. so i have been paying attention and took notice of a few things of myself. i realized i love my husband. i love my kids. my mom constantly has every tv she owns on in her home. i realized the quietness of a house when you are alone and would sometimes turn the tv on for background noise. i actually watched some tv and 3 movies. if you ever get a chance to rent Amelie you should. i like the quietness of the streets late at night and the street lights softly diffusing everything. i like listening to neil young while driving on those streets. i realized i am pretty happy right now. i'm definitely not a schedule person and that is going to end on monday with school starting up so i have enjoyed not having one single thing on a list TO DO. going to bed when i'm tired and getting up when i am ready to. i realized the beauty in small things. italian cookies and cold milk. a full moon. snowflakes. a hot bath. makeup. peppermint soap. pictures. friends. dr.pepper. indian food. naps. walks. scrapbooking.

so i thank my husband for taking my kids along with him for a fun time so i could have some fun time of my own. i'll be posting my layouts i finished tomorrow...L

there is absolutely nothing like a good hair day! my hair was bangin' in this photo and all because my oldest and most kind daughter brianne took mercy on my lack of hair skills and did my hair for me the entire time she was down here on thanksgiving and christmas. and now she's gone. back to your regularly scheduled station...L

well, this picture is most of my kids and my sister's. my son and her daughter are missing from the picture and my brother's son is in this pic. and all of them and 4 adults spent the night in my house last night! i have one brother and one sister and we each have six kids. unbelievable--or crazy--depending on how you look at it. my sister came down from georgia and has been here since new years eve. so fun to see her and my nieces and nephews. my brother and his wife and kids were also here for new years eve and it was a blast. we got to watch the ball go up (inside joke!), play, light fireworks and let the cousin's go wild together. they had so much fun. it is amazing to me that you can get family together after a long absence and they all totally connect and relate and just enjoy being together.

my sister went back today and david packed up all the girls and him and dennis headed for utah to take brianne back to school. i had a minute of being completely emotional and missing them and realizing that brianne is gone again and i debated driving the truck to catch up with them, but i stayed and i will try and enjoy the quiet and get some scrapping in. funny how as a mom you yearn for some alone time, some peace and quiet and then when you get it all you want is for them to come home...L

OK--those of you who know me well know that i have absolutely no clue about anything related to sports. i never know what season we are in for which sport or any players or if the game has innings or time outs or quarters or overtime, blah, blah, blah. i don't play sports, i don't attend hardly any live sporting events and i certainly never, ever watch sports on tv. however tonight i attended my very first hockey game. it was killer dude. prescott now has a semi-pro hockey team and a stadium in prescott valley and our good friend had a suite tonight and invited our family to go. so all of us went--6 girls and david. even my sweet little haley was doing the wave and clapping and throwing her arms up in the air when they scored a goal. and i was starting to get a little upset when we entered the 2nd quarter and no fighting had erupted. isn't hockey all about the fighting? not to worry--late in the 2nd quarter a few fights broke out and by the 3rd quarter there was a full blown helmets and gloves off knock down fist fight and our player got ejected from the game. which we won, 8-3. life is good. happy new years eve everyone and have a wonderful year in 2007...L

snow day here...L

i am so sad--not because Christmas is over--but because one of THE coolest men (next to my husband) died on Christmas day. yes--James Brown is gone. i LOVED james--david and i don't share all of the same musical tastes but james was a favorite of both of ours. we probably own at least 5 JB cd's. we always listened to James Brown's Funky Christmas CD every year. so a moment of silence for the godfather of soul...L

Merry christmas everyone!

congratulations shanna and shane--love ya...L

this little girl turned 4 on tuesday. my baby is 4. i'm in denial. and daddy made it home--so i been a little "bizzzy" as shanna would say. bow chicka bow wow...L

OK--what two things DON'T go together? hmmm--PMS and Christmas--bloody hell!
(and i only said bloody instead of a more appropriate word because my sweet BYU going daughter reads this blog!)

well, today was a good day. went into mesa to get my hair highlighted and cut. also got to go to scrapbooks etc. and rosa's for a shrimp taco. yum. saw shanna. delivered dr. pepper. then drove home to pick up my girls from my neighbor who was sweet enough to pick them up from school and keep them until i got home.

i do have to say one thing that happened this week. a neighbor family came over to watch the church christmas devotional on tv with me and the girls on sunday. they have a cute little boy anna's age who has passed that age of cuteness into the age of rudeness. not so much rude as extremely honest and very vocal in their observations. anyway this little boy asked me why my christmas tree didn't have any ornaments on it. I told him "cuz i freakin' hate christmas so shut your pie hole you little bastard!" no, not really--what i really said was "sure, there are ornaments, they are just really, really, tiny and you have to look really close" and when he looked closer i shoved his face into the tree and said "hey--can you see them now? can you? can you?" OK--i didn't do any of those things, but i sure had fun thinking about them...L

OK--and i totally redid my photo final and got some really cool pics.

i just have to say that the discovery of James Kim in Oregon has made me sadder than sad. my heart goes out to his family--especially his wife and two little girls. being without my husband going on two weeks now has made me miss him terribly. i can't even imagine if it were forever...L

i am going to post some pics i took for my final in photography class. it was such a learning experience and i almost feel like i have more questions now than when i started. i have learned a lot but now feel like there is so much more to learn...these pics were taken in skull valley, a tiny town about 15 minutes west of prescott. so much charm and so rural. the first time i saw it i knew i needed to take pictures of it. so i did.

conversations in the car part II--

anna: i want to be a veterinarian when i grow up.

me: that's sounds good.

anna: i want to be a veterinarian and a mom--i can get a babysitter to watch the kids when i go to work.

me: you can do whatever you want, sweetie.

anna: i'm not going to have a husband though.

Carson: you have to have a husband to have kids anna.

anna: no--i don't want to shoot a man.

me: well, sometimes things happen.

carson: you don't have to shoot your husband.

me: however...

anna: no, i don't want a shooter man.

carson: you mean you don't want a hunter?

anna: yeah.

guess it's hunting season here in prescott...L

got this questionaire off of shanna's blog and since i am feeling scroogey and bored out of my freakin' mind i thought i'd go ahead and post it. here goes...

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? EGGNOG is God's gift to woman--right after chips and salsa!
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa don't have time to wrap girlfriend!
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? white
4. Do you hang mistletoe? i have a tole painted one from my ex' SIL that she gave us (yep--I kept it!)
5. When do you put your decorations up? usually right after thanksgiving. david actually put the tree up already but that is it--no decorations or anything yet since he has been gone since sunday and i'm not putting them up until he comes back (that's my story and i'm sticking to it!)
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? anything with pumpkin or sweet potatoes.
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? getting up at about 4 a.m one year and opening every gift of mine and then sitting and watching everyone open their gifts about 4 hours later--not a happy time then but it is damn funny now
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa ? what truth? shanna said he's gay--is that true? he must be because he gives out fashionable stuff here!
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? usually
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? it varies from year to year--i hate the same old, same old--i'm guessing this year it will be whatever we have and whatever the kids want. however i would love a total lime green and white tree.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? love it as long as it doesn't stick around for a few months and the kids don't get a gazillion snow days--did i mention my husband has been gone since sunday? 'nuff said.
12. Can you ice skate? Yeah--not well though.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? dave and i had just started dating when it was christmas and he bought me a coach purse that he had seen me look at. can a girl resist a man whom buys her coach purses?
14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? the de-emphasis on the commercial aspect and the focus on the saviors birth. see--told you i was scrooge.
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? eggnog and candy cane cookies
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? it used to be walking around my old neighbor hood and seeing everyone's lighted sidewalks.
17. What tops your tree? A brand new angel in a lime green dress--hence the wish for lime ornaments! 18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? i completely love to give!!!!
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? jingle bell rock
20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum--totally yum but in small quantities.

let the commercialization of christmas begin...L

conversation in the car.

Carson: mom, do you believe in global warming?
Me: yes
Carson: President Bush doesn't (smart girl)
Me: well, everyone is entitle to their opinions
Carson: mom, what is global warming?
Me: well, basically it is the earth's atmosphere warming up
Taylor: well, technically it is more like the city of Phoenix is polluting more than they should and that pollution causes a hole in the ozone layer and then more of the sun's rays are getting through and causing the temperature of the atmosphere to heat up.
Carson: mom, taylor's explanation was a lot better than yours.
Taylor: yeah, it was--that's why we're in school.

and that's exactly where i want them...L

have you been to see the movie HAPPY FEET yet? if not run, don't walk, to the nearest movie theatre near you. definitely the best movie out there (of course i never go to the movies so take that for what it's worth!) Loved.this.movie. so wonderful on so many levels. i can't stand how good this movie was! Ok--enough said.

so tomorrow i venture out into the world of christmas shopping. i am so glad i am doing this for other people cuz i would have no motivation to shop for me--the thought of the holiday season is making me nauseous. in other good news though there is a chance of snow tomorrow and wednesday. my girls hope it snows enough to close school for a week. guess whom doesn't share that same sentiment. so this is scrooge saying peace out and take a break from the holiday stress and go see a really good movie...L

GRATITUDE unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. GRATITUDE makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. Melody Beattie

Happy Thanksgiving everyone...L

i had one last photo to do for class. my hubby volunteered! that is a man right there my friends and a good one that takes care of me and is on his way to cali-fornia right now. have fun sweetie...L

these are the pictures i shot for my photography class. the one of anna is outside and the one of haley is indoors. i love how they turned out!

lisa

conversation between me and Carson (age 10):

C: when i grow up i am going to have 4 kids (big pause) and one husband.
M: are you sure you don't want more than one husband? (snicker)
C: (big pause) no i don't want to get divorced. i'm going to make sure i get a really good one the first time.

amen, sister.

more pics...

when it's over it's over--that's what my husband said as he took all my halloween decorations down. i have to say that this was the best halloween ever! we had a party--the first one in our house here and we had neighbors, friends, co-workers and family over for food and fun. it was a blast! now i'll leave you with a few photos...L

couldn't load any photos!! also, all my links are gone because i tried to change templates and get this blog to look a little more coherent--yeah, right!