October Goals

Over the past couple days I have been realizing what a slacker I have been. I mean a B~I~G slacker! I haven't been training for my 60 mile Breast Cancer walk, which is only 45 days away! OUCH! If I don't do something, even if it's just a mile a day I might not make it thru this walk. :(
My SIL (sister in~law), Ambrosia, just got back from Inspiration Unlimited 2010, which is a big scrapbooking thingy. Well after hearing how much fun she had, it has made me realize how much I miss scrapbooking. I have been slacking in that field too!
So.....here are a few goals that I want to have in October!

♥ Go walking at least a mile every day. If I can do more, than do it! The last thing I want is to not be able to complete these 60 miles.

♥ Complete a scrapbooking project weekly. Whether it be a mini album or layout page. I have got to get caught up with all my pictures! PLUS...scrapbooking totally relaxes me. (Ambrosia & I want to try to do a scrapbooking Recipe Swap, stay tuned for details)

♥ Read my Bible more. About 3 weeks ago or maybe 4, I accepted God into my life. What an amazing feeling. I just need to sit down each night and read.

And just some random to~do's

♥start working out
♥fall/winter cleaning of the house
♥start making Christmas gifts list (Yep I said it, Christmas)
♥take more pictures
♥start going on date nights again with my husband & Best Friend, John Clark

I think that is it for right now but when I think of more I will be sure to tell you! Hope everyone is having a great day!

Advance token to the nearest railroad!

My oh my, what a great weekend! It started off somewhat bumpy at first with JL being home sick with the stomach flu, but he got over the sickness and our weekend began.
John's family (mom, Uncle Pinko, and grandparents) came down early Saturday morning and we headed to JL's soccer game. That lil boy of ours just melts my heart. I don't want to brag, but I think he had the biggest cheering section on the field. All of John's family, my mom, his Auntie Stephie & Billy, his best buddy Amanda, & Miss Laura. We were all cheering for him and of course the other kids too, and the whole time JL was just running on the field with a big cheesy grin & snapping his fingers. Now....this is just too funny to watch. JL is very aggressive and he likes to go after the ball. The funny part is, while he is doing all of this he snaps his fingers. I don't know why he does this, but it's just too cute!

My lil "BLOCKER"

I loved that everyone came out to watch him play! He loves getting all the attention and when he scores a goal, he makes this little grin and looks over at "his cheering section" for approval or the applausing. The next thing we need to do is make our JL Fan Club T~Shirts and we should be good to go! :0)

So after spending about an hour in the scorching heat, the family loaded up and we went to go get Ambrosia and the kids to go out to lunch. Table of 10 please, plus a baby sling.
After lunch we were all full and a bit tired so we headed to the house to do some relaxin'. Put on a movie, the kids played, I fell asleep on the floor, I think some other family folk did as well, and just relaxed the afternoon away. After the movie, John did some cookin' with his mom and grandmother before they had to get on the road back to Florence. My brother~in~law, Chance, was able to make it to the house before they left which was really nice. We kissed the family off and me, John, Ambrosia, & Chance decided to play a board game. We were going to play Battle of the Sexes but after looking at some of the cards realized it may be too hard so we should play something else. Drum roll please................................

Yep, Monopoly. I have not played this in so long and man was it fun. I didn't start off too well as everyone had all kind's of properties and I only had one, but I did seem to last longer than Ambrosia. :0) The game was going on forever and noone wanted to make good trades or bargains. Chance ended up winning but the boys weren't very happy because we made them cut all bargains and just play so the game would get over with. I think there will be a rematch in the near future.

Well since we had such a great time, Amber & I thought we should start doing game nights more often. Are next game we want to play is Life.

Anyone down for game nights? We could rotate people's houses!

To top off the weekend, yesterday we started off by going to church and then my wonderful mother said she would watch the kids for John & I so we could head up to Tucson and hit up the casino. We love the casino! I would like to just watch people instead of blowing thru $20 in 5 minutes, but yesterday John & I sat at the Wheel of Fortune slot machine and played for about 2 hours. We had such a great time! John was drawing a crowd because everytime we got a "spin" he would squel like a girl and yell out loud. There was definitely alot of laughs and smiles yesterday. It was a great way to end my weekend. We don't get too much time to ourselves but when we do I just L♥VE it!

Ambrosia's protege'

What an experience! My SIL(Ambrosia) & I decided one Sunday afternoon to go down to Bisbee. I keep telling her that I could be her assistant in her photography business, only if she taught me everything she knows. She is just amazing and God has truly gifted her with the talent of photography. I know that with photography it has to deal with what the photographer sees and how they do the photoshop, it's an art. I know she can't teach me everything, but she can teach me the basics of the camera, certain angles I should do, what to watch out for and what to look for. Anyways back to the point....we were eating lunch at the Bisbee Grille (let me just input this.....it was super delicious) and right away, Amber said, "Okay now get out your camera. You need to learn how to set it up and learn the basics." Oh geez....here I go. I am a idiot when it comes to cameras and to be honest, they scare me a little if they can do too much or if they are too big. (Amber let me use her old Rebel camera. This one is way bigger than mine and let's just say that after using it....I think I need the husband to buy me one! ♥)


Snappin' away



So I got the camera out and put it together. Took me a few times to get it right, but I got it! Then Amber told me start taking pictures! Um~hello? What did you say? Yeah this is intimidating. Here is this amazing photographer and she wants me to take pictures. Mine are going to be crud compared to hers. I know I am a beginner but I wanted my pictures to be like hers! I want to be able to take great shots! Well, I started snapping away and she caught me in action.

I was taking photos here and there at the dinner table and Amber was being my instructor. I managed to get one good shot of the food I ate.



The Caesar Wrap



Let me just say that this wrap was Oh~So~Yummy! We finished eating and went for our walk around the great lil' town of Bisbee. We took pictures here and there and had just a great time. I managed to take another good picture (out of like the 100 or so I took) and this one was of this snail we happened to find.



Gary the Snail



I learned a lot of things going down to Bisbee with Amber and all while having a a blast. I definitely know that I need to keep the camera more still and wait for the shot to be taken before I move it. DUH....that should have been a given but not for me. I also need to work on the photoshopping part. It just takes time and patience of course.

Now if I get on top of all this.....I could just very well be Amber's greatest assistant and then we would rock this town! She would be the main photographer of course....and I would just be on the sidelines snappin' away and crossing my fingers that I get a good shot! JK What would our name be.........?????

Stay tuned for the other photos from our great Bisbee Adventure!

Soccer Season Begins!

Well the time has FINALLY come for my lil' man to start soccer. Every since he saw his cousin play last year, he has wanted to play. He just wasn't old enough. :( I was constantly getting asked, "Mom, can I play soccer now?" It's hard to explain to a 3 year old that he was to wait a year to play. {And it's more than a year because of where his birthday falls}, plus children at that age have no concept of time. They think a year is like a day! I had to keep telling him things like, after your sister is born, after the 4th of July. Then he kind of understood. I also told him, we have to wait till the "soccer guy" tells us "Come on everyone, it's time to sign up for soccer!"

In the end of July, the time had come to sign him up for soccer. He was so excited! {and i have to admit, I was too} I think it's so cute seeing all the lil' kids running around, trying to kick the ball, and trying to learn the game. I couldn't wait to see my lil' man in his soccer cleats and shin guards.

So we were all signed up and just waiting for the coach to call us for practice. The call came and practices have begun! JL's first game is next Saturday and the plan for myself is to make a JL's fanclub T~shirt. ACTUALLY, one of my good friends K.D. said she would make it and on the back she would put "PRESIDENT". ♥ I'm super excited.

The other day I was at practice taking some pictures. This lil' boy just melts my heart. He is always smiling even when he is running all around on the field. I'm sure he will just love this sport! {at least I am hoping he does}. I'll keep you posted as to how his first game goes! GO BLOCKERS!  Here's a few random pictures from his practice!

Stretching

Doing the duck crawl!

Jumping Jacks