Fantastic Friday & Satisfying Saturday

Homeschool Co-op is held every other Friday and yesterday was the occasion. Since I am one of those in charge, each co-op date brings challenges and joys. I got to walk around and take some photographs during one of the hours and had to work through a couple issues during another hour. Ate lunch with my good friend and chatted with many nice people. Saw some cute babies!

Sent James home with a friend and packed up to head out to Maryann's house for the night. We got there earlier than I had thought we would, even with stopping at a new bread thrift store on the way. Another friend arrived, unexpectedly to me, bringing her sons ages 9&10, making me rather wish James had come along. I try to find him some other activity when we go up there because there is no one for him to play with at her house. Usually.

We watched a movie & some Doctor Who on DVD (Maryann's new obsession), while having yummy food and stimulating conversation. We always solve all of our problems in chatting. LOL The kids had an awesome time together.

Slept in on Saturday then relaxed over coffee and more Doctor Who and a couple other movies and eventually moved on to some lesson planning and curriculum chatting. Such a nice relaxing day.

Bob had to work Friday and Saturday so he wasn't missing us, and James had a great time with his friend, as they went to a couple AWANA events and played together all afternoon.

Came home a little later than we had planned, but with my Spanish lessons and Essay writing class plan done!

Oh, and Bob bought another dryer at work, so maybe this will be the one that does the trick for us. Tomorrow we will find out!

The Scrap Report

Scrapbooking Weekend has come and gone. Once again, I'd call it the best Scrapping weekend ever! Every one seems better than the one before. The last one I went on was just about a year ago.

We gathered at Maryann's house on Friday night to start our fun. Maryann's garage was converted into a room several years ago and it's called "The Scrap Room" although it's used for other things too. However, scrapping was one of the main uses and every now and then, we take it over for that again. Here are a couple photos of how we had it set up. I had intended to take a photo mid-scrap so you could see how messy it gets! lol But that photo never happened so all you get is the beginning photos.

Six of us (Lisa, Maryann, Darlene, Carrie, Donna, and Ann) were there to start off and a couple (Jen, Marla) more joined in that evening. Some (Marla, Donna) had to leave Saturday and we missed them terribly. One more friend (Linda) joined us for a while on Sunday. Did I miss anyone?

Maryann's daughter Erin turned 21 Saturday and she commemorated the day in the usual way. A couple of her friends came over for dinner and very tasty cake and then they went out on the town. We joined Erin in a margarita. Happy 21st, Erin!

Each of us signed up for a meal to cook up for the weekend and we had lots of snacks available all weekend. My meal was Taco Pie and salad.

I scrapped 37 pages (mostly two-page spreads) and was stymied by the poor printing job Meijer (Snapfish) did on my photos. I have to return a large stack of them. We shared ideas and Cricut cartridges and paper and stickers and quips.

Movie-watching goes hand-in-hand for my scrapping crowd. Twelve movies found their way into the DVD player this weekend. If you can't imagine scrapping while watching movies (or talking through the films), you would probably not enjoy our weekends! LOL

How do we pick what to watch? Well, anyone who wants to brings a stack of movies they think would be good and we usually take turns choosing. If someone has strong negative feelings about a movie, they get veto power (usually, lol). We often search for films featuring our favorite actors and actresses and pop those in.

These are the films we chose this weekend:
Adam (Hugh Dancy)
The Proposal (Ryan Reynolds)
Confessions of a Shopaholic (Hugh Dancy #2)
Someone Like You (Hugh Jackman)
School of Life (Ryan Reynolds #2)
Australia (Hugh Jackman #2 - notice a pattern? lol)
North and South (BBC, Richard Armitage)
Robin Hood Season 3 - episodes 4 & 5 (BBC, Richard Armitage #2)
Lars and the Real Girl (Ryan Gosling)
Juno (Ellen Page, Michael Cera)
Easy Virtue (Colin Firth, Ben Barnes)
The Hangover (Bradley Cooper, Justin Bartha - rated R & not for the easily offended, or even the not-so-easily offended)

Weekend is over again.....

So, after Suzy's party Friday, I just kicked back and relaxed. David went up to the church and helped the Best Years Fellowship (senior citizens) pack up their garage sale. I got a nice email later saying what a great job he did. That's always nice to hear!

The kids watched something on TV and I stuck in some frozen pizzas. James had been visiting a friend and he didn't come home until bedtime. I showed my friend (who had been hosting James) what facebook is all about.

Saturday, David rode his bike up to the church again to see if they needed more help loading up the garage sale leftovers but they were done.

Then we headed up to town to the library and then to the soccer fields. It was Field Maintenance Day. Oh yeah, my favorite thing - GARDENING. NOT. Anyway, you'd be proud of me - I slung mulch and pushed a wheelbarrow. So did my kids! Even Suzy. She actually loved pulling weeds. James and David worked very hard. (Emily? Not her favorite thing either. She's going to need some practice on enjoying it.) Bob helped too. He can shovel more than I can, and he does it sitting down! He has some upper body strength! We worked there about an hour or so and then headed home.

The kids did their chores and I took a much needed shower, before heading off to the one-year anniversary of my book club! We gathered at an Italian restaurant for dinner and conversation before heading to the new apartment of one of our faithful members. Once there, we discussed our book (the play by Oscar Wilde - The Importance of Being Earnest) and then watched the movie. It's one of my all-time favorites -so witty and enjoyable! I highly recommend it!

Today David got up and rode his bike (again!) over to the church for Sunday School. The rest of us didn't aim for SS, but David really likes his class. Anyway, I was upset with him for not telling me that he was leaving, although I sort of figured he would. But he told me later on that he DID tell me; I just apparently wasn't alert enough to process it. Oops! LOL Next time, he better write me a note too. The sermon today was really inspiring to me. I hope it was to many.

This afternoon, my neighbor had to move out. She lost her house to the bank. They're coming tomorrow to take possession. That's sad. She's lived behind us for a long time - twice actually. She grew up there and lived there when we first moved here, but sold it and moved away for a time. Then she bought the same house again and has lived there for several more years. She has three teenage children. She passed on a lot of stuff to us that she couldn't take along - mostly clothes, but also a few other things.

So, that took up some time this afternoon, as well as getting David ready for camp. He leaves Monday right after lunch. He is so excited that I'll be surprised if he sleeps at all! He has the busiest summer of all of us!

I think I'm going to go finish my book and eat some popcorn with cheese sprinkles.

Weekly Preview and "What I Did This Weekend"

Wow, it's nice out! Days of sunshine! And warmth!

On Friday I went to visit my friend Michele whom I have known for a number of years but never visited before. What an adorable welcoming restful home she has created! I enjoyed several sweet hours of conversation and crafting with her while David worked with her son on some computer and robotics issues. Friday night I think I read until quite late - Adriana Trigiani's newest.

Saturday, I SLEPT IN. That was nice. Once soccer starts, I can't do that. I had thought about taking the kids to the free matinee, but.... well, I didn't. We cleaned house and then they worked in the yard while I finished up in here. Then Emily, James, Suzy and I hopped into the van to visit two libraries and the thrift store, coming home with a full backpack of books and DVD's and several outfits for Suzy and a dress and a pair of boots for Emily, as well as a bunch of items from their 20 cent bin.

I whipped up spaghetti for dinner and then my friend Marla and I went over to Donna's where some friends from her new church were gathered and I did ANOTHER craft. (Two crafts in as many days? What is the world COMING TO?) We also had some yummy food. The chocolate-covered strawberries were TO DIE FOR. I came home and finished the Trigiani (which IS on my 999 list).

Today I need to hop off the computer and enjoy the lovely lovely weather. We're working on getting the dead leaves and broken twigs out of the yard. Maybe we'll drag down the bikes out of the barn. The kids would like that.

I'll post pictures of my crafts another time.

Also, Jennifer has been gone ALL WEEK to DISNEYWORLD. And she should return home today. I missed her!! :::waves at Jen:::

Sunday - SS, Church, Youth Group (D)
Monday - Lessons, Editing (MVR), IEW Meeting at night? (me)
Tuesday - Lessons, Editing, Soccer (J, last one), KAH mtg (E, S), St. Paddy's Day - wear green
Wednesday - Lessons, Editing, Pioneer Club (D, J, S)
Thursday - Lessons, Homeschool group leaders meeting, Library Program on Underground Railroad (D, E)
Friday - Co-op, Evening Plans Unknown
Saturday - Homeschool Book Fair (with Maryann and Dar), BOOK CLUB! (North and South! Come join us! WHEE!!)

This week I need to finish reading North and South - about 150 pages left, I think. I also should work on the taxes since I have yet to do that. I am going to redo the kids' commission sheets (allowance) to make them monthly instead of weekly.

Relaxing Time

Friday was homeschool co-op. I will write about that on Cornerstone.

I went to Maryann's for the night Friday night, taking David and Emily along to hang with her kids. She and I and Erin watched a couple movies Friday night and relaxed with Mexican food and rum and Coke. :-) (Not Erin, she's not yet one-and-twenty.) Movie reviews on Mirkwood. I guess David and Alex and another friend stayed up into the wee hours, playing video games. I turned off Emily and Gabby's TV at about 1am. LATE NIGHT for all the kids.

This morning we watched Someone Like You (Hugh Jackman) which I own and enjoy a lot, but hadn't watched with Maryann yet. Watching movies with my friends is usually a time for conversation and discussion. lol Then we had lunch and chatted. Another friend came by and used Mare's Cricut machine for a couple hours, then she left and another friend came by to pick up her son. A nice relaxing day. I needed that!

Left there about 3pm and stopped by Meijer on the way home to get the week's groceries. I should make up a menu for the week. Heated up pizza rolls for dinner, resulting in everyone's happiness.

There are four loads of laundry waiting to be folded - everyone does their own and puts it away. Chores are done, dishes are being washed, baths and showers are happening. Need everyone to lay out church clothes. I have to finish planning my Sunday School lesson. I have new curriculum which uses lots of hands-on stuff. Not sure how it'll work out, but I'm glad to give it a try! Can't be worse than what I WAS using, I don't think.

No plans tomorrow except to take David to youth group. I was thinking about my story off and on all weekend so I may be writing, since I need to get back to it. It's calling me!

I'm reading a book that's caught my interest - two actually. A Christian romance by Robin Lee Hatcher and Blue Like Jazz, which is another book on post-modern Christianity, to sum it up in 3 words which doesn't do it justice.

Oh yeah, and I wanted to say that it was NICE OUT today and it smelled like spring! I know it's not going to last, but at least it's a tiny break from the unrelenting wind chill and below zero temps we've been experiencing.

Traveling Tiara, Movies, and Friends

My weekend was AWESOME!!! I was invited to join a group of ladies for scrapbooking at my friend Maryann's house. Her husband agreed to take their kids to a hotel for the weekend so we could take over their house for the weekend.

If you've never been to a scrapping weekend, you may not get the attraction. Even if you HAVE been to an event like this, it's likely it isn't QUITE like the ones we create! This is the first time we've done a big weekend like this at Maryann's home, but we have done a few before now. Maryann has a large room (used to be a garage) that we shoved full of folding tables and chairs and a LARGE amount of scrapbooking supplies, along with up to twelve women at any one time. Throw in a TV and a DVD player and a great variety of movies and you may begin to get the idea! Laughing, giggling, and sharing lots of meaningful conversation completed the fun. I hope to have pictures for you soon.

I stayed both Friday and Saturday nights and several other women did too. A few just came for Saturday. We had one baby who was simply adorable. One woman's birthday was today, so we celebrated with cake and ice cream. Great food was in abundance, as was coffee and even a glass or two of wine. OK, several glasses. :-D

I completed eighteen pages, so I got to wear the traveling tiara quite a lot. If you know my totals in the past, this does not compare. I did not do any power layout planning ahead and I also watched all or most of NINE movies over the weekend. Several of us are movie addicts. I fit that description quite well. Some of the others are not movie-people, but we are converting them! Here's that list.

Movies I have seen before (Easiest to scrap to, since I only have to pay attention to the "good parts")
Northanger Abbey - one of my favorites, as you may well know. A Jane Austen novel film adaptation
Miss Potter - it's ok. I got a lot done during this one.
North and South - Riveting! We watched parts 1-2 on Friday night and parts 3-4 on Saturday. Then we watched part 4 AGAIN on Sunday, rewinding and repeating the last few scenes with dedication.
Mamma Mia - yes, again! This makes six viewings for me!
August Rush - Oh, wow I had forgotten that Jonathan Rhys-Meyers is in this! Woo-hoo! Loved him in The Tudors (HBO). Keri Russell is soooo pretty and that Freddie Highmore is quite an accomplished actor for one so young. Oh yeah, and a creepy Robin Williams, too. Also, some weird stuff about the power of music. But it made me cry.
X-Men - Just Dar and I watched this. I am converting her to my recently discovered love of comic book movies. She and I share similar tastes in books and movies. She says she liked it!
A Knight's Tale - as the packing up was just getting started and afterwards, we watched this. Then had dinner and went home!

Movies I hadn't seen before - watched these in comfy seating in the living room, instead of the scrap room
The Duchess - Dominic Cooper (Sky in Mamma Mia) was our impetus for renting this and he was pleasing. The story was quite poignant and none of the characters made choices I would have in most cases.
Someone Like You - with HUGH JACKMAN, Greg Kinnear and Ashley Judd - LOVED IT and am going to purchase it. Now I am thoroughly and completely a Hugh Jackman fan. I can't believe it took me SO LONG. lol

Yes, I did let other people pick the movies some of the time! LOL They also watched Baby Mama while I was doing something else. I've seen it before twice, and quite recently too.

So, now we are all back to our respective homes, our relaxing mini-vacation over. Can't wait til the next one!

I think I'm going to see Australia (hint - JACKMAN) this week. Even though I am utterly NOT a fan of Nicole Kidman. Not even a little.

Scrapbooking Weekend!

I'm going away scrapbooking this weekend! About 9 or 10 of us are gathering at a friend's house. Her husband is taking the kids away to a hotel for the weekend! YAY! Can't wait!

Crazy Schedule

FRIDAY
9:15 Leave for co-op
3:00 Home from co-op
4:30 Leave to pick up Leah and drop off David (James and Suzy riding along)
5:10 Drop off Emily and Leah
5:30 Shopping with James and Suzy (groceries and birthday gift)
7:30 Home with James and Suzy - make some mac and cheese, do costumes and gift
9:00 David returns and I chat with Donna for a while while the boys run around in the drizzle

SATURDAY (if weather permits)
Finish getting costumes ready
Eat breakfast
10:00 Leave for soccer
10:30 James and Suzy soccer games
After soccer - trick-or-treating at local merchants (between 11-1)
Emily come home at some point
Take David to a different friend's house
1:00 James to a birthday party
during the afternoon, make food for Book Club
4:00? Go get James
5:00 Book Club
After Book Club, get David and bring him home

More Pix from Scrapping Weekend

More photos from the scrapping weekend! Donna took these with her cell phone, I believe.

This is Ann's van all stuffed to the gills.














Donna stood in the loft to take this pic. There I am, way in the back corner. (Next to the TV - a coincidence? I think not! lol)














And here is the kitchen. Note we took over the island for the Cri-cut machines. Ann scrapped there too. She likes to scrap standing up.

Pix from the Weekend

This is the interior of the house. I was sitting off to the left across from Darlene who was taking the photo, so my area is not in the pic. The stairs are near the front door, which is in the very back of this pic.













This is the backyard of the house. See? It's right on the lake. Back row - Donna, me, Ann, Jane, Maryann, Tammy, Rochelle; front row - Jen, Debbie, Darlene

Ten Women in a Cottage

Scrapping was a TOTAL BLAST!!!

My good friend Donna mentioned several months ago the possibilty that she would be able to borrow her sister-in-law's cottage in Houghton Lake (about 2-1/2 hours north) for a group of us to scrapbook for the weekend. When she was able to arrange it, I was thrilled, especially because it was a weekend that would work for me!

So, on Friday, ten of us found our way "up north", as Michiganders often say, our minivans loaded to the ceilings with suitcases, folding tables, and scrapbooking supplies. The van I was in with 3 others arrived sometime in early afternoon. (I did not bring a watch and did not much care about time the whole weekend). Three other women arrived at just exactly the same moment, although we had not been caravaning.

We hauled our enormous amount of gear into the "cottage", which is really a huge A-frame house with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The doorwall on the back of the house looks out over the lake. I ended up with 2 other ladies upstairs in the master bedroom. We dragged the furniture around and set up our folding tables in a long row right down the middle of the living room/kitchen (open floor plan). Quite soon the room was a bona fide scrapping palace! We had THREE Cri-cut machines and about 9 (10?) different cartridges for them.

Scrapping was the only order of business for the whole weekend, although we did make a couple trips to Walmart and a field trip to a huge craft store. On Sunday, several of us went for a walk to enjoy the gorgeous fall day.

I love scrapping with this group of ladies - we share, we tease, we chat, we sing, we work far into the night. We cook amazing things and we eat candy like there's no such thing as calories. A fair number of us adore watching movies while we scrap and so the TV was playing most of the weekend.

Movies we viewed included: Sahara, Martian Child, Penelope, Dan in Real Life, National Treasure, Pride and Prejudice (new one), No Reservations, Speed, 13 Going on 30. Maryann and I had our Colin Firth fix by watching selections from Then She Found Me on a portable DVD player. lol I would recommend any of these movies. The whole room pretty much stopped scrapping to watch Penelope, Dan In Real Life and Martian Child.

Every time someone broke out into song, Darlene or I tallied it up and I believe we broke 50. That's fifty different songs that were sung at least in part throughout the weekend. We also wrote down a bunch of memorable quotes that people said throughout the weekend. They won't make sense to people who weren't there, so I won't subject you to any, but trust me, they were FUNNY. lol

By Sunday afternoon, we were winding down, packing up, cleaning the house, and driving away. I arrived home about 8:15pm to several very excited children. Before sending them off to bed, I took time to show them each of the 51 pages I completed over the weekend. They were duly appreciative!

I think that this was the best scrapbooking weekend I ever attended, and I have been to quite a few!

Weekend Ramblings

Sunday already? Where is the weekend going?!

Friday has vanished into the sands of time - I can't recall what we did! lol I do know that I sorted fall clothes to see what we already have and what we need. Oh, and the kids did a bunch of chores - the ones we usually do on Saturdays.

On Saturday morning, the kids tried on the sorted clothes. After lunch, we headed over to a friend's house. Her husband was hosting a gaming party - David participated in that - and the rest of us just visited and played the Wii off and on. We walked around the property and the kids caught several toads and frogs. Towards evening, we sat around a fire and chatted. Very very pleasant day! (THANKS SO MUCH for inviting us, S!)

Today we went to church and afterwards we had a short meeting for Financial Peace University. Bob and I will be taking that class on Wednesday nights. We're going to walk to two garage sales on our street and then head to the waterpark. It's sunny and 85 today! After that, we'll likely go out to visit Bob's parents as it is their 54th wedding anniversary today.

For Labor Day, we will be heading to the thrift store to take advantage of the 50% off clothing sale. A nearby town is having a festival this weekend and maybe we'll head over there and see what's going on. A used book sale at the library sounds tempting! We'll probably visit the waterpark one last time - Monday is the last day. And what else? No idea!

Can you believe summer is on its way out? It went far too fast!

We thought about camping this week Tues-Fri instead of starting school, but then I remembered - soccer. Oh yeah, I have to hold soccer practice. Yippee. But the weather is going to be soooo NICE. But then again, responsibility is a valuable trait as well. Sigh.

Tonight, I'll be posting my August reads over at Mirkwood - quite a pile of books this month! Not quite done with my latest Austen read. Ok, ok, I'm not even halfway. But that's not a problem as there are still a few weeks until our book club meeting.

I also have watched movies I'd like to review - Attila, The Last Legion and Catch and Release. I have a few more movies here to watch - some Horatio Hornblower DVDs, Amazing Grace (already watched once around Christmastime, but would like to see again, paying more attention, lol), and Casino Royale (have seen 2 or 3 times, but have had a hankering to see me some more James Bond!).

Movies the kids have here to watch: Nanny McPhee, Short Circuit, Thunderbirds.

A week went Speeding by

Wow, a whole week without a post. No, I'm not missing in action. Just been enjoying the lovely weather we've had, as well as going each and every day to my most favorite place in the world. (Yes, that was a little glimmer of irony.)

I hope to update y'all soon, but for now, my weekend holds:
4 soccer games
bunches of trash cans to empty at the soccer fields (oh the joys of volunteer work)
a homeschool co-op program which I have to M.C.
piles of spring clothes to sort
2 bunnies who need a better cage (oh, yes, I do have to sing y'all The Bunny Song. lol)
a movie to go see in the theatre
groceries to buy
libraries to visit
a house to clean
a yard to straighten

As you can see, it doesn't leave much time for computer! I have pictures to post from Em's bday party still!

And I am all excited about the Speed Racer movie for some reason. Why is that? lol I actually DO remember the Speed Racer cartoon, although I'm not sure how since it aired when I was very young. Maybe it was in reruns? Maybe those original airdates were the Japanese dates? Mom? Any clue? I seem to remember a dentist office and a Speed Racer cartoon. That's odd, isn't it?

Anyway, I am SURE my boys will adore this movie, but I am a little concerned since the Wachowski brothers (Matrix) wrote and directed it. It is rated PG though, so that's a plus.
It couldn't be worse than Transformers, could it? I am going to show them the trailer tomorrow. They haven't seen that yet, at least I don't think they have.

I should go to bed. 9:00 soccer games mean arriving at the field at around 8:40 which means leaving the house no later than 8:30 which means getting up by 8:00. Since it's almost 2 now, I'll get a whopping 6 hours of sleep which is what I get most nights. So I should be good, right?