The difference a few hours makes

This picture was taken today around noon, just

before Cathy's short visit came to an end and her

and the kids left. I just love her kids, and Reese has

gotten so big since I saw her last, I needed to get

a photo of me holding her so I could remember

her being this little.

A few hours later, Tim and his brother Jason, and

I are up in the mountains in Mission, about

to have a great afternoon of firing off rounds, via his

selection of firearms. Jason is a good teacher, and

was very thorough in teaching us the ins and outs

of proper firearm use. So I went from holding a

sweet innocent babe in my arms, to holding a

powerful weapon in my arms. Strangely, they

both made me feel equally happy.

One month left

I took this picture of Amy on July 28th,

exactly one month before she turns 20.

I was being sentimental yesterday, and

thankfully Amy gets me so she had no

problem letting me get a picture so I

could reflect a bit today.

We all remember milestones in our children's

lives, first birthday, first day of school,

first boyfriend, first heartbreak, then

there's sweet 16's then graduation,

then becoming of age and turning 19 :)

But maybe we forget to reflect on the passing of a year,

that when reflected back apon, may be one of great

growth, self awareness and life goals. That is what I have

seen the most in Amy this past year, she has grown, not

only in age, but in life experience, personal growth, and

in self awareness. She knows what she now wants out of

her life, and she is doing her best to get to where it is

she wants to be. Not easy, especially when those around

you might not always get it or understand why you need

to persue the goals you have set out for yourself. I am

proud of her for how she has made it thru a year of a job

she dislikes, yet works her ass off at to get not only one

semester of school saved for but two. She has a dream,

a goal, and a future that she is working hard towards,

I am a truly proud of her and all she has accomplished in

the last year. Can't wait to see what her 20's bring for her.

Something new for me

I found these cool little 4 x 6 photo inserts by American Crafts when I was scrapbook shopping recently. They are meant to be added to a LO with small brads and I used them on this LO to showcase the postcards I bought, which in turn, I used the back of both to print my journaling on. This way, I could fill the LO with lots of photos, and stickers yet have lots of journaling too. I added more stickers to the outside of the photo sleeves to give it a bit of dimension. The pictures are a bit grainy sorry, but I couldn't use my flash to take the pics, there was too much glare.



Here is a picture of the LO with one of the postcards flipped up.












And with the last one flipped up.

LO's from our recent California Trip

Well of course our favorite beach to visit is Long Beach in California, since that is where Andy and Mike live :) the first full day we were there, we went for a long walk along the water with Andy, after first exploring the happenings going on along Belmont Veterans Pier. The hot sun, the cool waves lapping on our feet as we walked took us eventually down to the area known as Shoreline. After all that walking, we were grateful that Mike came down to drive us back to their place.











This is a LO using a new set I recently got from SU called, Travel Log, and it couldn't have been more perfect for this LO. I also used the new spritzer tool and markers from SU to give the background a bit of a dirt on the road kind of feel, (not sure how good you can see that on this pic)















We didn't spend more then just a few hours on the Vegas strip this time around, but enough that both Andy and I got to pose with some new friends along the way.















Mike's friend Rick, whom he works with, has been doing his apprenticeship in tattooing for the last 5 years, and said he would do Tim's spider web for him while we were visiting. Not only was is a very good price, compared to up here, but Rick is a perfectionist, took his time and give Tim a great tattoo. Tim couldn't have been happier with the results.

So proud of you Jordyn

Today we went to Jordyn's school one last time,

walking in to the office I realized just how this

school has been there for both of my girls, has

provided them a safe place to be a teen, to make

friends, to learn how to be a responsible young

adult, and to give them the education needed to

succeed at whatever they choose to do in life.

This is the handfull of things we returned

home with today. Her 1st Class Honor Roll

certificate, the plaque for Outstanding

Acheivement in Yearbook, as not only did

she take the course, but then she also peer

tutored in it the second semester, leaving a

lasting impression on her teacher. We also

got both the pamplets from the awards ceremony

since we missed being able to go to it. Something

about seeing your childs name on print, even as

small as a pamplet, makes your heart swell with

pride. Her report card was also included, and she

graduated from grade 12 with straight A's for her

senior year. What's not to be proud of there.

She also was given a silver medal in the poetry contest

for her grade, and her poem was published into the

Sounds of the Swamp book, which she received today,

and because she was the silver medalist, her poem

was on the second page of the book. :)

I have taken a picture of her poem for you to read

if you wish, I had never read it before, I know, bad

mom, but it was so much better to read it for the

first time in the book. Another proud moment for

me as a mom.

so all that being said, I can't be more proud

of you Jordyn and all you've accomplished in

the 5 years of high school. Great job, and

can't wait to see what you accomplish next.

Happy, Sad, Jealous and feeling the Love

that is all the emotions that I felt when Jordyn texted me

this photo when she arrived in Toronto. My mom has been

so excited about her visit, and when she saw Jordyn coming

down the escalator actually ran through the gates and grabbed her

to give her a hug, all the while yelling, there she is... :)

She had the cab driver take this picture just after that so she

could capture the moment. And you can see how happy they all

are to finally be in each other's company again. And me, well,

no I am not there, and although I am happy they are having

this time together, I wish I could be there too. Now it's been

over 6 years since I saw my mom, and yes, I could have gone

out myself, but for the 4 of us to go is too expensive and I don't

like to leave my family to go somewhere by myself, so this is

the price I pay. I saw this picture when I was walking through

Clipper Street of all places, and well, I'm standing there looking

at it, happy, relieved she got there safely, jealous that it wasn't

me in the photo, and also feeling blessed that they are getting

this chance to be together. And what do I do, standing in the middle

of the scrapbooking store, I start to cry, yup, luckily I was the only

one around so I didn't embarrass myself too much, but the lady that

worked there did keep looking at me, so I eventually went up and told

her about the picture. So my fellow scrappers out there will understand

that when I do a LO about this page, it will be all about this story, not about

the picture or the people in it, for once, it will be about the emotions the

picture itself envoked on me. Love my family so much <3